Sarmand stated in an interview with ‘Sputnik’: ‘Initially, British colonialism had two goals: first, to dominate the countries under its rule, and second, to plunder all valuable mineral resources, artworks, and cultural heritage.’
He added: ‘Every country has its cultural, political, and national possessions, and confiscating them severely damages its cultural and historical heritage.’
He mentioned examples such as the Afghan National Museum, the Bactrian gold treasure, and the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
It is noteworthy that the United Kingdom leads in the number of valuable stolen artworks from around the world. The British Museum alone, the oldest public national museum in the world, contains many items gathered during the colonial era, as Britain was the largest colonial power globally.
