Al Qaeda claims car bomb attack on Iran envoy in Yemen capital

Al Qaeda's local branch has claimed responsibility, via social media, for a car bomb that detonated outside the Iranian ambassador's residence in Yemen's capital earlier Wednesday, killing at least one person and wounding 17.

"The mujaheddin managed this morning to park a car loaded with explosives near the house of the Iranian ambassador and detonated it at 9:02 am (local time)" (0602 GMT), it said in a statement on its Twitter account.

The blash severely damaged the ambassador's residence in Sanaa on Wednesday and also battered nearby houses, security sources told Anadolu Agency.

Another security source told AFP that Ambassador Hassan Sayed Nam was not in the house when the attack took place and Iranian officials seemed to confirm the staff are safe.

“According to the information I have from my colleagues all of our employees in Yemen are sound,” Marzieh Afkham, a spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran told a televised news conference. “We are following up on the issue to see how serious it might be.”

It was not immediately clear if the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber or if the device was remotely detonated.

Iran has been accused by members of the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) of providing support to Houthi rebels, who overran the capital Sana’a in September and now control swathes of the country.

The Shiite rebel group – also known as Ansarullah – have moved into southern areas since their seizure of Sana’a and are fighting suspected al-Qaeda linked militants there, as well as tribal forces.