UK's Dark File: Systematic Plunder of Peoples' Cultural Heritage

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UK's Dark File: Systematic Plunder of Peoples' Cultural Heritage - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 31.07.2025
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UK's Dark File: Systematic Plunder of Peoples' Cultural Heritage

The UK’s historical role in looting cultural treasures from Asia and the Middle East is a “systematic crime against the historical memory of nations,” said Iranian international affairs expert Ruholla Moddaber.

Speaking to Sputnik, Moddaber argued that for centuries, the UK has deliberately appropriated priceless cultural artifacts in an attempt to compensate for its own perceived lack of a deep historical identity.

He pointed out that major British museums house vast collections of looted artifacts—many acquired during colonial expansion and military occupations. Through its influence in global institutions, particularly via loopholes in international law, such theft has often been retroactively legitimized.

Moddaber cited the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which permits exported artifacts to remain abroad if local authorities at the time approved their removal—often under duress or colonial control.

Among the most infamous examples, he highlighted the Kohinoor diamond—taken from Iran—and thousands of artifacts stolen from historic sites like Persepolis and Hamadan.

These relics, Moddaber emphasized, are not just objects but symbols of identity, history, and cultural sovereignty.

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