Iranian diplomat abducted in Yemen ‘closer to release’

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the Iranian diplomat abducted in Yemen last July is “in complete good health.”

Amir-Abdollahian said Thursday that Yemeni officials are seriously pursuing the release of Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, the Iranian Embassy official who was abducted in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a last year.

He further added that Iran “is closer” to securing the release of the abducted diplomat.
Last month, Yemeni charge d’affaires to Tehran, Abdullah Ali al-Seri, said Nikbakht is alive and in good health, emphasizing that the Yemen Interior Ministry and security forces are responsible for investigating the fate of the abducted Iranian diplomat.

Nikbakht was on his way to work from his home in the city’s diplomatic quarter on July 21, 2013 when unidentified gunmen blocked the road, forced him out of his vehicle and abducted him.

On January 18, another staff member at the Iranian Embassy in Sana’a, Abolqasem Asadi, was gunned down by members of a terrorist group outside the Iranian ambassador’s residence in the Yemeni capital.

The assailants first tried to kidnap the Iranian diplomat but when they faced resistance, opened fire on him. The diplomat who was seriously injured passed away in hospital.