SANAA: An Iranian embassy official who was kidnapped in Sanaa in July was found beheaded in central Yemen on Saturday, an official of the local administration said.

The official, who declined to be identified, said the body was found in an area of oil fields known as Safer in Maarib province. The official said the condition of the beheaded body suggests the diplomat was killed a day ago.

News of the beheading comes a week after gunmen killed another Iranian diplomat in a drive-by shooting in Yemen’s capital.

Iranian state television had announced that Ali Asghar Asadi, Iran’s economic attaché in Sanaa, was attacked on January 18 while driving and suffered four gunshot wounds to the chest and stomach. It did not elaborate.

Three Yemeni security officials said Asadi was leaving the Iranian ambassador’s house in the city’s southern Hadda neighborhood when assailants opened fire. They said he died in a hospital. A medical official confirmed the diplomat’s death.

Another Yemeni security official said the diplomat suffered three gunshot wounds to the chest and shoulder. The two accounts of the shooting could not be immediately reconciled, though conflicting information is common immediately after such attacks.

The official said the initial investigation suggested the gunmen first attempted to kidnap the diplomat by stopping his car. When the diplomat resisted, the assailants shot him and fled the area, which is a busy commercial district, the official said.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to journalists.

Relations between Iran and Yemen have soured over what Sanaa calls Iranian meddling in its domestic affairs. But Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi condemned the attack, calling it a “terrorist criminal act” that targeted bilateral relations. Al-Qirbi said the two countries want to avoid any attempts to harm relations.

“This operation has targeted the Yemeni-Iranian relations before it targeted the diplomat,” he told the state news agency SANA. He said authorities will purse the culprits and bring them to justice.