Sanaa, Jan 18 (IANS): An Iranian diplomat was severely injured Saturday when gunmen attacked him in the Yemen's capital Sanaa, an interior ministry official said.

Unidentified gunmen driving a car fired 10 shots at the diplomat near a supermarket on Hadda Street, about 100 metres from the Iranian embassy in the capital, the official told Xinhua.

The diplomat was taken to the Saudi-German hospital and is in serious condition.

The Yemeni police have set up checkpoints on roads leading to the Iranian embassy to search for the gunmen and started investigating the incident, according to the official.

An official at the Iranian embassy confirmed the attack and said one of the embassy staffers was also attacked along with the diplomat.

Foreigners are frequently kidnapped or assassinated in Yemen where the security situation has worsened after a political upheaval in 2011.

On July 21, an Iranian diplomat was kidnapped here and is still held hostage.

In October last year, near the location where the Iranian diplomat was injured Saturday, the militants assassinated a security staff of the German embassy after he forcibly resisted their kidnapping attempt.