The special relationship, a special relationship, or just the normal kind of relationship you would expect between allies? That is the question posed by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in its report on Anglo-American ties published yesterday.

The discovery of fragments of ancient cuneiform tablets – hidden in a British Museum storeroom since 1881 – has sparked a diplomatic row between the UK and Iran. In dispute is a proposed loan of the Cyrus cylinder, one of the most important objects in the museum's collection, and regarded by some historians as the world's first human rights charter.