TEHRAN - Iranian police have recently arrested five illegal excavators and antique smugglers in Gorgan, northern Golestan province, CHTN reported on Monday.

The lawbreakers were traced and finally arrested while digging for historical objects in a village after the authorities received reports from cultural heritage aficionados about their lawbreaking, said Faramarz Mir, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage.

Some excavation tools and equipment have been seized from the culprits who were surrendered to the judicial system for further investigation, the official added.

Golestan is reportedly embracing some 2,500 historical and natural sites, with UNESCO-registered Gonbad-e Qabus – a one-millennium-old brick tower – amongst its most famous.

Narratives say the tower has influenced various subsequent designers of tomb towers and other cylindrical commemorative structures both in the region and beyond. The UNESCO comments that the tower bears testimony to the cultural exchange between Central Asian nomads and the ancient civilization of Iran.

ABU/AFM