Iran urges Yemen to clear fate of abducted diplomat

Iran called on Yemeni parliamentarians to seriously pursue the case with its abducted diplomat Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht and shed light on his fate. During a meeting with a visiting Yemeni parliamentary delegation in Tehran on Monday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian noted that the Iranian officials, media, and public opinion are awaiting the official results of Yemen’s probe into the abduction case. He further hailed the efforts exerted by the Yemeni government to ensure the release of Nikbakht, and called for more serious efforts of the Yemeni officials to this end. Unknown assailants abducted the Iranian embassy staff member, 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. Late in July, Amir Abdollahian said Yemeni officials have pledged to do their best to free the Iranian diplomat recently abducted in Sana'a. Amir Abdollahian said 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. A Yemeni security officer said in early August that al-Qaeda militants are suspected of having abducted the Iranian diplomat. "There are suspicions that al-Qaeda is behind the kidnapping," a Yemeni security officer said. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi promised to launch a probe into the fate of the Iranian diplomat abducted in Sana'a.