TEHRAN -- Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicraft Organization (CHTHO) plans to hold talks with officials of the State Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg, Russia to discuss the repatriation of Iranian artifacts transferred to the museum over the years.

“In March, CHTHO director Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaii is scheduled to travel to Russia, where he will sign a memorandum of understanding with Russian officials,” CHTHO official Mohammad-Kazem Kholdinasab told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.

According to the MOU, the two countries will also exchange information on museum maintenance and protection and restoration of artifacts and museum pieces, he added.

In 2004, the Hermitage hosted an exhibition entitled “Iran in the Hermitage” at its Peter Gallery, displaying more than 300 paintings, sculptures, and works of applied art of Iran from ancient times to the end of the 19th century. Many items were being shown for the first time.

The aim of the exhibition was to show the history of the creation of the collections of Iranian works in the Hermitage.

The Hermitage permanent section Oriental Art: Islamic Art of the Countries of the Near East houses over 700 Iranian bronzes dating from the 7th to 20th centuries.

With over 700 pieces from the 15th to 18th centuries, the museum also contains one of the largest collections of Iranian faience in the world.

More than 400 Persian paintings from the 15th to 19th centuries are also on display at the museum, depicting all stages in the development of miniature painting from the 15th to 17th centuries.