Mostafa Deh Pehlivan, the former head of the Cultural Heritage Research Institute, reported on the involvement of some officials in unauthorized excavations and searches for historical artifacts. He said that in some cases, a member of parliament was looking for treasure and buried valuables, and a Friday prayer leader was also present at the illegal excavation site.

Mohsen Zohouri, a member of the Iran International editorial team, says about other evidence of the role of influential people and organized networks in the looting of Iran’s cultural heritage.