Iranian diplomat released in Yemen after 2-year abduction

SANAA

An Iranian diplomat who was abducted in Yemen two years ago has been released, a local security official said on Thursday.

"Iranian diplomat Nour Ahmad Nikbakht who was abducted by militants in 2013 has been released," the official, requesting anonymity, told the Anadolu Agency.
He declined to provide details on the circumstances under which the diplomat was released or the identity of his captors.

Nikbakht was seized by gunmen in capital Sanaa in July of 2013. No group had claimed responsibility for his abduction.

Late last year, the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar Al-Sharia militant group claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack outside the residence of Iran's ambassador to Yemen Seyed Hossein Nam in Sanaa, which had left one person dead and 17 injured.

Earlier in 2014, Iranian embassy official Ali Asghar died of injuries he had sustained in a drive-by shooting by unknown militants in Sanaa.

A number of Gulf States have accused Iran of backing a Shiite insurgency in fractious Yemen by supporting the Shiite Houthi group which has recently taken over government institutions in Sanaa.