Iranian diplomat released in Yemen after 2-year abduction

An Iranian diplomat who was abducted in Yemen two years ago has been released, a local security official said on Thursday.

"Iranian diplomat Nour Ahmad Nikbakht who was abducted by militants in 2013 has been released," the official, requesting anonymity, told the Anadolu Agency.

The official declined to provide details of the circumstances under which the diplomat was released or the identity of his captors.

Nikbakht was seized by gunmen in July 2013. No group had claimed responsibility for his abduction.

His release comes two days after a Houthi delegation arrived in Tehran for talks to strengthen economic and political relations between the country and the rebel movement which captured Yemen's capital in September.

As ties between the Iranians and the Houthis become more overt, some analysts say Yemen could emerge as the latest battlefield in a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

While the Saudis once reportedly supported the Houthis in an effort to block the rise of the Islamist al-Islah movement, that strategy has brought the rebel group to the Saudis' porous southern border.

Last week, several Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia announced they would move their embassies to Aden where deposed Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi has set up after fleeing Sanaa last month.

On Tuesday, Hadi called for the troubled UN-brokered reconciliation talks to be moved to Saudi Arabia if an agreement cannot be reached on a venue inside Yemen.