A senior Iranian official says the Yemeni government is responsible for the identification and punishment of those behind the recent assassination of an Iranian diplomat in the Arab country.
The Yemeni government is responsible for ensuring the safety of Iranian nationals and diplomats, and it is necessary that Yemen launches investigation into [Abolqasem] Asadis assassination as soon as possible, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday.
He also warned countries supporting Takfiri militants that they are playing with fire.
On Saturday, the commercial attaché of the Iranian Embassy in Sanaa, Abolqasem Asadi, was gunned down by members of a terrorist group outside the Iranian ambassadors residence in the Yemeni capital.
The assailants first tried to kidnap the Iranian diplomat but when they faced resistance, opened fire on him. The diplomat who was seriously injured passed away in hospital.
Following the incident, Irans Foreign Ministry summoned the Yemeni chargé d'affaires to protest the fatal shooting of the Iranian diplomat in Sanaa.
The Foreign Ministry reminded the Yemeni Embassy official that under international rules and regulations, governments are responsible for the security of foreign diplomats.
Yemens Foreign Ministry says the country would welcome an Iranian delegation to Sanaa and is ready to cooperate with Iran in investigating the attack.
On July 21, 2013, Iranian diplomat Nour Ahmad Nikbakht was on his way to work from his home in the diplomatic quarter of Sanaa, when unidentified gunmen blocked the road, forced him out of his vehicle and abducted him.
Yemens Foreign Ministry announced on August 14 that it had no clues as to Nikbakhts whereabouts.