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Iran urges safe return of diplomat abducted in Yemen

340400_Iran-FM-ZarifIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called on Yemen to utilize all the means at its disposal to secure the safe return of an Iranian diplomat abducted in the Arab country.

During a telephone conversation with his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr Abdullah al-Qirbi on Monday, Zarif expressed Tehran’s deep concern over the fate of Nour Ahmad Nikbakht — the kidnapped administrative staff member at the Iranian Embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, and stressed the Yemeni government’s responsibility to guarantee the safe return of the abducted Iranian diplomat.

In late August, Iran’s Foreign Ministry dispatched a delegation to Yemen to investigate Nikbakht’s fate.

During a meeting with the Yemeni foreign minister in Sana’a, the Iranian delegation condemned the incident as an inhumane act, and sought information on the latest measures taken by the Yemeni government to free the diplomat.

The Yemeni foreign minister said his government is making very serious efforts to secure the release of the Iranian diplomat.

Yemen’s Foreign Ministry announced on August 14 that it had no clues as to Nikbakht’s whereabouts.

Nikbakht was on his way to work from his home in the diplomatic quarter of Sana’a on July 21, when unidentified gunmen blocked the road, forced him out of his vehicle and abducted him.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has already summoned the Yemeni chargé d’affaires twice to express Tehran’s concern over the fate of the diplomat and to remind Sana’a that it is responsible for Nikbakht’s safety.

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