Tehran, Nov 1, IRNA � Vice President and Head of Department of Environment (DOE) Masumeh Ebtekar said here on Sunday after decades of Iran-US legal challenge for returning home in near future of a number of Iranian fossils Iran emerged victorious.

'One of the good environmental news is that Maraqeh Fossils belonging to various terrestrial eras, which are among the most precious of their kind in the world and were sent to the United States before the victory of the revolution for academic studies and kept in Harvard University returned home,' said the vice president.

Ebtekar who was speaking at a session of media editors in chief and political science students said that return of those precious fossils to Iran was halted for four decades due to certain problems.

'The long term environmental (legal-archeological) Iran-US dispute on unearthing, collecting and coding the samples of Maraqeh Fossil Site led to filing a complaint at Hague Court of Justice and pursuing it in a very complicated, tough, legal process, which fortunately led to a happy ending,' said the DoE chief.

Ebtekar said that the Iranian DoE and Harvard University are arranging for a ceremony in the presence of Iranian and US researchers and scientists in which Maraqeh Fossils will be unveiled before their return to Iran.

'A part of those fossils will return to Iran within the next few weeks and will be delivered to the Museum of Natural History and a part of them to the Maraqh City Fossil Studies Center,' said Ebtekar.

Ebtekar said that in America the Iranian fossils were put on display in exhibitions, used in research works, and even numerous scientific articles about them were written in very reputable US and other foreign magazines.

'A part of the Iranian archeologists' studies and surveys for return of the Marqeh Fossils were based on those articles, images and research works,' she added.

The DOE chief said that the number of Marqeh Fossils is 3,000, out of which 1,500 fossils were sent to US for research work and the remaining 1,500 fossils are kept in the Iranian Natural History and Environmental Diversity Museum.

'Although Maraqhe Site is one of the most precious fossil study and research sites in the world and the 8th government (of President Mohammad Khatami) serious made serious effortsto turn them to a modern research center, unfortunately due to many years of negligence the plan was halted,' she added.

'But fortunately presently new efforts are underway to establish that the research center, which will bear fruits in near future,' said.

Ebtekar also emphasized that Iran has very precious fossil sites, reiterating that those fossils can serve as the basis for joint research works between Iran and the United States, or Iran and the international community.

By IRNA