Iran Summons Yemeni Charge D’affaires Again Over Abducted Diplomat

Tehran, Aug 7, IRNA – Foreign Ministry summoned Yemeni Charge d’Affaires for the second time over the abducted diplomat of Iranian embassy in the capital Sana’a. Unknown assailants abducted the Iranian embassy staff member, Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht, in Safr street in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in late July. The foreign ministry voiced Iran’s concern over continued abduction of Iranian diplomat, Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht, to Yemeni diplomat. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Expatriates Affairs Hassan Qashqavi said today that the foreign ministry’s director general for Iranian expatriates affairs will head a delegation to Sana’a soon to follow up on the case of the abducted diplomat. He noted that the Iranian delegation will go to Yemen to collect information about the whereabout and the latest conditions of the Iranian diplomat. On Sunday, Irans mission in Sanaa dismissed media reports that it had been informed of Nikbakht’s place. “This report is only based on media speculation and nothing specific has been said on this topic thus far,” the embassy said. “We consider all possibilities about the abduction of Mr. Nikbakht. Al-Qaeda has not yet said anything about the abduction and we don’t speak about it either until conditions grow clearer, it added. Iranian Charge d’affaires to Sana’a Morteza Abedi said that Nikbakht worked in the administrative section of the Iranian embassy in Sanaa. 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 Sanaa. Amir Abdollahian said last week 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. Also last week, 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. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi promised to launch a probe into the fate of the Iranian diplomat abducted in Sanaa. In a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi last Sunday, Al-Qirbi said the Yemeni government would make every effort to release the Iranian diplomat. He added that initial measures have been taken to identify the abductors./end