Iran expresses concern over fate of diplomat kidnapped in Yemen

The Iranian Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the health conditions of abducted diplomat Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht, and renewed Tehran's call for an immediate release of the Iranian national. In a Tuesday meeting with the Yemeni charge d’affaires to Tehran, an Iranian Foreign Ministry official voiced Tehran’s great worries about the continued captivity of Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht -- the kidnapped administrative staff member of the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a. He also criticized the Yemeni government for its refusal to provide any information on the whereabouts of the abducted Iranian diplomat. The Iranian official reiterated the Yemeni government’s responsibility to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats in the host country. He noted that any procrastination and neglect on the part of the Yemeni government over the case is “unacceptable.” The Yemeni charge d’affaires expressed regret over the abduction, and said Tehran's message will be conveyed to Sana’a. Unknown assailants abducted the Iranian embassy staff member, Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht, in Safr street in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, in late July. Iranian Charge d’affaires to Sana’a Morteza Abedi said that Nikbakht worked in the administrative section of the Iranian embassy in Sana'a. Later, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Yemeni officials have pledged to do their best to free the Iranian diplomat recently abducted in Sana'a. Amir Abdollahian said last week that the Yemeni officials have given assurances that the abducted Iranian diplomat will be freed, and added that certain clues have been discovered about the Iranian diplomat’s abduction thus far. “We hope that the efforts yield result as soon as possible, and we witness the freedom of the administrative staff member of our embassy in Sana’a,” Amir Abdollahian said while pointing to the dispatch of a delegation to Yemen to investigate the fate of Nikbakht. Also last week, a Yemeni security officer said that al-Qaeda militants are suspected of having abducted the Iranian diplomat. "There are suspicions that al-Qaeda is behind the kidnapping," AFP quoted a Yemeni security officer as saying. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi promised to launch a probe into the fate of the Iranian diplomat abducted in Sana'a. In a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minster Ali Akbar Salehi last sunday, Al-Qirbi said the Yemeni government would make every effort to release the Iranian diplomat. He added that initial measures have been taken to identify the abductors.