SANAA -- Gunmen shot dead an Iranian diplomat in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Saturday, an interior ministry official told Xinhua.

"The diplomat who is in charge of finances at the Iranian embassy in Sanaa was shot dead on Saturday afternoon by gunmen driving a car near a supermarket on the Hadda street in downtown the capital, some 100 meters north of the Iranian embassy," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.