ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq announced on Tuesday the recovery of a number of “important” and “rare” stolen artifacts from Japan and Switzerland. 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced in a joint press conference with Minister of Culture Ahmed Fakak al-Badrani that a number of "Iraqi antiquities were recovered from Japan and Switzerland as part of intensive government efforts," noting that "it was a great challenge for us to reach the Iraqi antiquities, given their importance."

According to Hussein, valuable pieces were recovered "such as a statue of the Sun God and a number of other antiquities and textile paintings that are centuries old," and that "these antiquities are not just remains, but our heritage that we are proud of."

“The recovery of these pieces is the result of foreign diplomatic efforts and their follow-up in Japan and Switzerland. The ministry will spare no effort to work on recovering everything that can be recovered, and it is the result of tremendous efforts by the two ministries,” Hussein said.

For his part, Badrani described the recovered pieces as “rare artefacts,” which date back to "ancient civilizations," and had been "wrongfully taken."

In late December, Iraq’s culture, tourism, and antiquities ministry said that more than 10,000 artifacts had been returned to the country during the tenure of the current government.