TEHRAN: Iran has taken delivery of 14 pieces of American art purchased nearly 40 years ago but blocked for export due to a rupture in bilateral relations following Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The state-run English-language channel Press TV says the delivery is the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Iranian officials two years ago with a tribunal created in 1981 under an agreement known as the Algiers Accords. The Saturday report says the artworks were purchased by the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art in 1978. The US severed diplomatic relations with Iran after Iranian students stormed the American embassy in Tehran in 1979.

The delivery comes during a slight improvement in relations between Iran and the United States after the signing of a landmark nuclear deal in July.