Tehran: An Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Yemen has been freed and returned to Tehran on Thursday, official media reported.
Noor Ahmad Nikbakht was seized in July 2013 while leaving his home in Sanaa by gunmen suspected of being members of Al Qaida.
Iranian state television broadcast images Thursday of the diplomat arriving at Mehrabad airport in Tehran.
“I was kidnapped by unknown gunmen and terrorists as I left my home to go to work,” Nikbakht said.
He said “many efforts were made by soldiers from (Iran’s secret services), the intelligence ministry and the foreign ministry” to secure his release.
Nikbakht was held by suspected Al Qaida militants in a remote area between the southern provinces of Shabwa and Baida, tribal and Yemeni security sources said.
In January last year, another Iranian diplomat, Ali Asghar Assadi, was shot dead in an attack in a neighbourhood in Sana’a housing several foreign embassies.
