MNA � Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi has said that as many as 1,700 centuries-old clay tablets have been returned to Iran by the University of Chicago�s Oriental Institute.

The Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi has made the announcement on his Twitter account on Monday evening.

Mousavi said that the tablets were returned to Iran through the efforts of the Iranian ministries of Tourism and cultural heritage, foreign affairs, and the Presidential Legal Department.

The centuries-old clay tablets and fragments were given to the Oriental Institute in 1937 for research purposes. They were supposed to be returned to Iran during the presidency of President George W. Bush, which later refused to hand them over to Iran after levelling false accusations.