DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran says it will cut ties with the British Museum because of the museum's failure to loan to Tehran an ancient artifact known as the world's earliest bill of rights.
The artifact is a 6th century B.C. clay tablet with an account of the conquest of Babylon by Persian King Cyrus the Great, who returned Babylonian captives to their homelands.
It's called the Cyrus Cylinder and was to have been loaned to Iran by Sunday for an exhibition.
Vice President Hamid Baqaei, who is also the head of Iran's cultural heritage and tourism organization, was quoted by state Press TV as saying the ties would be cut on Monday. It wasn't immediately clear if this has happened.
Baqaei says the British Museum's failure to keep its promise is "not acceptable."
