TEHRAN – A total of 21 historical objects have recently been confiscated from two smugglers in Neyriz, southern Fars province, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage said on Sunday.

During the control of passing vehicles at the entrance of Neyriz, a vehicle was suspected and stopped for an inspection, Mohammadreza Bahmani said, IRNA reported.

Objects including clay and metal vessels were discovered from the car… and in that regard, two people were detained and surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation, the official added.

The official, however, did not refer to the exact age of the relics.

The ancient region of Fars, also spelled Pars or Persis, was the heart of the Achaemenian Empire (550–330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and had its capital at Pasargadae. Darius I the Great moved the capital to nearby Persepolis in the late 6th or early 5th century BC.

The capital city of Shiraz is home to some of the country’s most magnificent buildings and sights. Increasingly, it draws more and more foreign and domestic sightseers flocking into this provincial capital which was the literary capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1751 to 1794.

AFM