Yemen pursuing the fate of the Iranian diplomat recently kidnapped in Sana’a.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African Affairs says Yemen is pursuing the fate of the Iranian diplomat recently kidnapped in the Arab country’s capital, Sana’a.

Hossein Amir-Abdullahian said on Sunday that the Yemeni Foreign Ministry is following up on the abduction of Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, an administrative staff member of Iran’s Embassy in Sana’a.

Following a phone conversation between Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr al-Qirbi on Sunday, Yemen’s Foreign Ministry has set up a task group to pursue the case, Amir-Abdullahian added.

During his phone conversation, Salehi reminded his opposite number that under international treaties and conventions, the host country is responsible for the safety of diplomats.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned the Yemeni charge d’affaires to Tehran to convey the Islamic Republic’s serious concern over the fate of the kidnapped diplomat and to remind him of the Yemeni government’s responsibility in that regard.

Police sources said on Sunday that unknown gunmen had kidnapped Nikbakht.

The Iranian diplomat was travelling in the diplomatic quarter in southern Sana’a when armed men blocked the road, forced him to get out of his vehicle and took him to an unknown location.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi later confirmed the abduction of Nikbakht by an unknown group.