A US Supreme Court ruling on 24 July 2018 ordered the return of the rock relief back to Tehran. This relief was stolen from Iran 80 years ago, and stolen again from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts six years ago.

The soldier’s rock relief dates back to over 500 years BCE. This was supposed to be auctioned on Friday 27 October 2017 by the Rupert Wace Ancient Art dealers in New York. But Iran succeeded to stop its auction.

Director of Legal Affairs at the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization, Ebrahim Shaghaghi, commented on the return of the Achaemenid soldier, saying: “Iran’s representatives will take delivery of the rock relief in New York first, and it will eventually be delivered to Tehran.”

He stated that Iran is continuing its efforts to bring the soldier back home from Chicago University, stating: “Correspondence on this is ongoing.”

The priceless Achaemenid cargo containing over 30 thousand rock reliefs was dispatched to Chicago University in 1935 for research with the approval of the Iranian government of the time. The studies were supposed to take three years upon which time the artifacts would be returned to Iran. This took place in three stages in 1971, 2004, and 2015. But part of them stayed back at the University.