On Monday, Iran stated it would cut ties with the British Museum because of the museum's failure to abide by an agreement to loan the Cyrus Cylinder, a 6th c. B.C. clay tablet. Considered to be the world's first bill of rights, the ancient Babylonian artifact has, for some, turned from a cultural object into a political issue. The stage is set against the backdrop of increasingly tense Iranian-British relations, largely strained over Iran's nuclear program.