The United Nations has passed a nonbinding resolution aimed at curbing the cultural plundering of Iraq by the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 193-nation General Assembly, urges new steps to curb smuggling of antiquities which may be used to finance ISIL. It applies only to Iraq, not to Syria, where ISIL controls the ancient city of Palmyra. ISIL has posted video showing the destruction of Iraqi sites, including the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud. U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said the destruction is a loss for all humanity.

Jan Eliasson: “That this is taking place today in Iraq, the cradle of Mesopotamian civilization, represents a loss not only for the Iraqi people, but for all of humanity. The international community must do everything in its power, as the acting president just said, to halt the destruction of Iraq’s cultural heritage and to hold the perpetrators to account.”