Sources told Reuters this Sunday that an Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped at gunpoint in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, as he was traveling by car through the diplomatic quarter, an area usually heavily guarded and punctuated by military checkpoints.
The diplomat was forced out of his vehicle by unknown gunmen and taken to an undisclosed location.
The Iranian embassy failed at this stage to make any comment on the matter.
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, diplomats have seldom been a target, due to the diplomatic ramifications and potential dire repercussions.
Back in March 2012, a Saudi diplomat, Abdullah al-Khaledi was kidnapped by al-Qaeda in the southern seaport city of Aden while on his way to the Consulate. His kidnappers sought to use him as a bargain chip against the release of terror prisoners held in Saudi Arabia.
To this day al-Khaledi's whereabouts are unknown as he remains under al-Qaeda's custody.
While al-Qaeda had an interest in kidnapping a Saudi diplomat, the abduction of an Iranian diplomat makes little sense so far in terms of direct benefit to any given group.
That being said, the Yemeni government has often accused Tehran of meddling within Yemen internal affairs through its alleged sponsoring of the Houthis, a Shia faction based in the northern province of Sa'ada, and the Southern Secessionist Movement, so a revenge hit cannot be ruled out.
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 in between Sana'a and Tehran.
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