An administrative staff member of the Iranian regime’s embassy in Yemen’s capital Sanaa was kidnapped by gunman on July 21. It is the latest abduction of foreigners in this Arab country.
The abducted Nour Ahmad Nikbakht was travelling through the diplomatic quarter in southern Sanaa when gunmen blocked the road, forced him to get out of his vehicle and took him to an unknown location, reported by Reuters.
It was not immediately clear who carried out the kidnapping. The Iranian regime embassy failed at this stage to make any comment on the matter, the report said.
While the kidnapping of foreigners is rather common in the impoverished nation, especially since 2011, when a breakdown in security emboldened tribal militias and terror groups to use kidnappings as a mean to pressure the government into giving in to their demands.
Yemen Post reporting on the incident added that the Yemeni government has often accused Tehran of meddling within Yemen internal affairs through its alleged sponsoring of the Houthis and the Southern Secessionist Movement.
“Iran was also accused on several instances of running an extensive spying network in Yemen.”
“Frequent frictions with the coalition government have led to a diplomatic freeze between Sana’a and Tehran,” Yemen Post said.
