Tehran, Sanaa reiterate determination to pursue abducted diplomat's fate

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Yemeni counterpart Abu Bakr al-Qirbi in a meeting in New York vowed to pursue seriously the fate of Nour-Ahmad Nikbakht, an Iranian embassy staffer abducted in Sana'a in July. During the meeting held on the sidelines of the 68th UN General Assembly session in New York on Saturday, the Iranian foreign minister underlined the Yemeni government's responsibility for protecting the life of Nikbakht, and called for accelerated efforts to find, free and transfer him to Iran safely. Al-Qirbi, for his part, elaborated on the Yemeni government's efforts to this end, and vowed to make his best efforts to free the Iranian diplomat. Iranian charge d’affaires to Sana’a Morteza Abedi said that Nikbakht worked in the administrative section of the Iranian embassy in Sana'a. A Yemeni security officer said in early August 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. The Yemeni foreign minister promised to launch a probe into the fate of the Iranian diplomat abducted in Sana'a. In a telephone conversation with former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi late in July, 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.