Iran demands $300,000 for antique

Iran wants $300,000 in compensation from the British Museum for failing to lend Tehran an ancient Persian treasure, the Cyrus Cylinder, state-owned Press TV reported on its website yesterday.

Hamid Baghai, head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation, said the compensation was demanded since the museum which was to hand over the antique to Tehran for display in Iran had refused to do so.

"The National Museum of Iran has spent about $300,000 for the exhibition (of the antique) and we will demand that our loss be compensated by the British Museum," Hamid Baghai said.

In February, Mr Baghai said Iran had cut ties with the British Museum in protest at repeated delays in lending the 2,500-year-old antique, a decision which surprised the museum.

Many historians regard the Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in 1879, as the world's first declaration of human rights.