The UN Security Council has adopted a new resolution banning trade in antiquities from Iraq and Syria

Banks arranging finance for such trade would be liable to sanctions similar to those imposed on financiers of oil illegally smuggled out of Iraq (Newsflow, 30 January 2015).

ISIS and ANF
The sanctions are part of the UN’s continued effort to stem terrorist funding for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Al Nusrah Front (ANF).

The resolution condemns for the first time the theft of cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria by ISIS and ANF, whether such destruction is incidental or deliberate, including targeted destruction of religious sites and objects.

It adds that the groups are generating income from engaging directly or indirectly in the looting and smuggling of cultural heritage items.

Resolution
The resolution calls on all member states, “to take appropriate steps to prevent the trade in Iraqi and Syrian cultural property and other items of…historical, cultural, rare scientific and religious importance illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from Syria since 15 March 2011.”

The resolution notes that it is difficult to estimate how much revenue the groups generates from trade in antiquities.

A full copy of the resolution can be found here:

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50067#.VOXT_XbMSAw