TEHRAN -- Italy has returned about 30 Iranian artifacts recovered by the country’s police in 2007 to the representative of the Embassy of Iran in Rome on Friday.

The artifacts were delivered to the Iranian agent during a ceremony at the National Museum of Oriental Art, Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) announced in a press release, which was published on Friday.

The director of the museum’s Office for Stolen Artifacts, Paola Piacentini, and CHTHO Deputy Director Mohammad-Hassan Talebian also attended the ceremony.

Italy returned the relics based on UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, which was signed in Rome in 1995, Talebian said in the press release.

An appeals court in Milan had ruled that the artifacts must be sent back to Iran, he added.

“A number of artifacts comes from the Islamic era and others date back to periods before the advent of Islam,” he stated.

Talebian said that the artifacts are scheduled to be sent back to Iran during an official ceremony, which will be held in September.

The Italian police recovered the artifacts in the northern city of Monza in 2007, Italian attorney Duilio Cortassa, who represented Iran at the Milan court, told the Persian service of IRNA.

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Photo: CHTHO Deputy Director Mohammad-Hassan Talebian (L) talks with the director of Italy’s Office for Stolen Artifacts, Paola Piacentini, at the National Museum of Oriental Art in Rome on July 31, 2015 in a ceremony, during which a number of Iranian artifacts recovered by Italian police were returned to Iran. (IRNA/Javad Ghaffari)