TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian Foreign Ministry has condemned the kidnapping of Iranian diplomat in Pakistan, dismissing the abduction as an act of terror.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi pointed to Vienna convention on diplomatic rights, stressing the Pakistani government’s responsibility to protect the foreign diplomats.
Iran’s commercial attache, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh Niyaki, was kidnapped in an ambush attack by unidentified gunmen on Thursday on his way to Iran’s consulate in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
The gunmen reportedly killed Attarzadeh’s driver and took the diplomat to an undisclosed location.
Qashqavi expressed hope for the quick recognition of the kidnappers and the release of the Iranian diplomat via Pakistani officials’ full cooperation, press tv reported.
Meanwhile the Pakistani Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, denounced the kidnapping, saying the Pakistani officials would leave no stone unturned to find the kidnapped diplomat.
The Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Mashallah Shakeri held the Pakistani government responsible for the safety of foreign diplomats in the country.
Pakistan’s Interior ministry has taken an extraordinary step, ordering all the security agencies to dispatch their forces and recover the Iranian diplomat.