Iranian Delegation to Visit Yemen Today to Pursue Abducted Diplomat’s Case

Tehran will send a diplomatic delegation to Yemen later today to pursue the fate of its kidnapped embassy staffer Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi announced on Monday.

“A three-member legal-consular delegation, headed by Foreign Ministry’s Director-General for Iranian Expatriates’ Affairs (Seyed Kazzem Sajjadi), is due to travel to Yemen today to pursue the case of the abducted Iranian diplomat,” Araqchi said.

Araqchi reiterated the responsibility of the Yemeni government for the health of the Iranian diplomat, and expressed the hope that Nikbakht would be released soon.

Meantime, the latest reports from Yemen indicated that Nikbakht is in good health conditions, although there is no solid evidence to make sure of his well-being.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr al-Qirbi in a telephone conversation vowed to seriously pursue the fate of Nikbakht.

Unknown assailants abducted the Iranian embassy staff member 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 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.

Early in August, 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.

The Yemeni foreign minister promised to launch a probe into the fate of the Iranian diplomat.