TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The Iranian government said it was getting a team ready to head to Yemen to check on the status of a diplomat kidnapped in Sanaa last month.
The Yemeni government was prompted to tighten security measures around foreign embassies in response to a threat warning from the U.S. government. Yemen's official news agency Saba said an Iranian diplomat was abducted from the Iranian Embassy in Sanaa in late July and the U.S. government said its embassy in Yemen would remain closed as a security precaution.
Iran Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi said a team of diplomats was headed to Yemen to follow up on the July kidnapping of its diplomat.
"The latest reports from Yemen indicate the abducted diplomat [Nour Ahmad Nikbakht] is in good health," he was quoted by state-funded broadcaster Press TV as saying.
Iran and Yemen are historic adversaries. A May report from Yemen's news agency said the government suspected Iran was contributing to its internal crises and "seeking to stir up trouble."
Qashqavi said Iran has twice summoned Yemeni diplomats to Tehran to express their outrage over the kidnapping. The Iranian government gave no indication the U.S. security alert was related to the abduction.
