Gunmen kidnap Iranian in Yemen
July 21, 2013
Unidentified gunmen reportedly halted an Iranian as he was driving in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Sunday, forcing him to exit his vehicle and enter theirs, according to authorities.
"A search is under way to locate [the embassy employee]," they said.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry later confirmed the report, according to Iran's ISNA news agency. Officials also confirmed he was an Iranian citizen named Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, but did not provide his age.
Neither the identity of the group behind the abduction nor its motive was immediately clear.
Yemen has been battling nationwide instability since the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in December 2011. In addition to political and economic uncertainty, the country faces a rise in violence, sometimes from fighters linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
In March 2012, militants linked to AQAP took hostage a Saudi Arabian diplomat based in the Yemeni port city of Aden.
Other motives behind kidnappings in Yemen often stem from tribesmen seeking the release of a relative from prison or demanding changes from the government.
The Iranian government under outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appeared to back a separatist movement in southern Yemen. US and Yemeni officials seized an Iranian arms shipment off the coast in March of this year.
kms/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)