Iranian Delegation Due in Yemen over Diplomat’s Death
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said the foreign ministry plans to dispatch a delegation to Yemen on Sunday to look into the assassination of an Iranian diplomat in the Arab country.
“A delegation from the foreign ministry will head to Sana’a today (January 19) to study the terrorist incident,” Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian commercial attaché in Yemen Abolqassem Assadi was shot dead by unknown gunmen outside the Iranian ambassador’s residence in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a.
As regards the deadly incident, Amir Abdollahian explained that members of a terrorist group assaulted Assadi on Saturday, trying to abduct him. But the assailants faced the Iranian diplomat’s resistance and shot him four times, and fled the scene immediately afterwards.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister also added that the body of Assadi will be repatriated later with an Iranian airplane.
The Iranian diplomat underwent surgery in a hospital in Yemen after the terrorist attack, Amir Abdollahian noted, adding that an Iranian medical team was planned to arrive in Sana’a on Saturday to administer treatment of Assadi, however, he succumbed to injuries later in the day.
In a telephone conversation after the attack, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi expressed condolences to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and the victim’s family.
Qirbi also said the Yemeni government would welcome an Iranian delegation to Sana’a and was ready to cooperate with Iran to investigate the attack.