The US Treasury Department has seized a shipment of Iranian Donated Tiles by a mosque in Qom to be used to build a mosque in the US state of Virginia.
According to ISNA, The US Treasury Department is releasing a shipment of tiles that were supposed to be used to build a mosque in northern Virginia, but the Iranian Donated Tiles were seized at Dulles International Airport on the pretext of violating US sanctions against Iran.
The news of the release of the shipment was announced through the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which in a letter to the Treasury Department had given to the lawyers of the Manassas Mosque.
“We welcome this decision as an expression of our nation’s respect for religious freedom and differences,” said Edward Ahmad Michel, deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a press release. Americans of all religious backgrounds should have access to the symbols of their religion, whatever they may be. Iranian Donated Tiles were from Qom.
These 750 pounds (340 kg) tiles were a gift from a mosque in Qom to the Virginia Mosque with verses from the Holy Quran engraved on them. North Virginia airport customs had previously confiscated tiles sent from Qom under the pretext of Iranian sanctions.
Iranian donated tiles were to build a mosque in the United States. The US Treasury Secretary has said they will carefully consider this donation because of its religious aspect.
US envoys were also present in northern Virginia during the talks, but no direct talks between Iran and the United States took place. And the process of releasing the Iranian donated tiles continued only through negotiations between both partners and the work of other groups.
These 340 kg tiles were a donation from a mosque in Qom to the Virginia Mosque with verses from the Holy Quran carved on them. North Virginia airport rules had earlier confiscated tiles sent from Qom under the pretense of Iranian sanctions.