Louvre Museum will be hosting exhibitions of Safavid and Achaemenid eras of ancient Persia in 2007, 2008.

Tehran, 26 October 2005 – Allocating a 1200 square meter space to the exhibitions, Louvre will be displaying Persian artifacts dating back to the Achaemenid and Safavid eras in 2007/2008.

As announced by director of Iran's National Museum, Mohammad Reza Kargar, after his trip to Paris, Louvre will be allocating its temporary exhibitions' space for two consecutive years to Persian art and culture.

The Safavid legacy will contribute to make up the first temporary exhibition of Persian history in the Louvre after the Islamic Revolution of 1977. Then, in 2008, works from the Achaemenid Empire will go on show in the Museum.

In return for the Persian artifacts to be showcased in Louvre, works from France are foreseen to be traveling to Iran.

The thought of having a Persian exhibition in Louvre was kindled in the Museum's director and president, Henry Loyrette, after his visit to Iran 2 years ago, when he was amazed by the beauty and grandeur of paintings and other works of art from the Safavid era.

Louvre's permanent collection of the Achaemenid Empire is one of the most comprehensive of the era after those of Iran's museums and now the Museum is eager to set up a unique temporary exhibition of the Empire and its occupied lands by bringing together works from museums around the world.