Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said on state television on Tuesday that Heshmatollah Attarzadeh had been rescued by Iranian intelligence agents as part of a "very complicated operation" in Pakistan.

However, Moslehi did not give further details about the operation. It was unclear whether Pakistani officials had helped the Iranian agents to rescue the diplomat.

"The location where Attarzadeh was held was identified by Iranian intelligence agents, and through a series of complex operations, he was brought home," said a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry.

There were no immediate comments from Pakistan on the Iranian reports.

Who abducted Attarzadeh?

On November 13, 2008, Attarzadeh, the commercial attache at Iran's consulate in Peshawar, was on his way to work when unknown gunmen abducted him and killed his local bodyguard.

Iran condemned the kidnapping as a "terrorist act" but it remained unclear who had abducted him.

Suspicion fell on the Taliban and al Qaeda-linked Sunni militants, who operate along the Afghan-Pakistan border and denounce Iran, which is mostly Shiite. The involvement of criminal gangs, that are also active in the region, was not ruled out.

Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi accused Israeli and US intelligence services of being behind the kidnapping.

Iran’s intelligence

Attarzadeh’s release is the latest success touted by Iran's intelligence service. In February, Iranian agents captured Abdolmalek Rigi, Tehran's most-wanted Sunni militant and the leader of the rebel Jundallah group.

He was detained on a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan after leaving Pakistan. Iranian officials said that Rigi’s group had launched attacks from Pakistan on Iran's southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Whereas Islamabad claimed that Rigi’s capture was only made possible with its cooperation, Iran insisted that its intelligence agents alone had captured him. Tehran also accused Pakistan, Britain and the US of backing the Jundallah group. A charge that all three denied outright.

du/AFP/Reuters/dpa

Editor: Anne Thomas