SANAA, Yemen — An Iranian diplomat was killed in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Saturday when he resisted gunmen who were trying to kidnap him near the ambassador's residence, the Iranian Foreign Ministry and Yemeni security sources said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told Fars News Agency the diplomat was seriously injured when he resisted his attackers and was taken to a Sanaa hospital, where he died.

"We are seriously following up the dimensions of this terrorist action with the relevant Yemeni government officials," Afkham said.

Security sources in Yemen told Reuters the diplomat was traveling in a car belonging to the Iranian embassy, but the ambassador was not in the car at the time of the attack.

The gunmen fled, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility, they said.

Kidnapping of foreigners in Yemen is common, often carried out by disgruntled tribesmen seeking to press the government to free jailed relatives or to improve public services, or by Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida.

Iran is the leading Shiite Muslim power in the Middle East, and its diplomatic missions in the Arab world have occasionally been targeted as sectarian violence spreads in the region.

Sectarian rivalry between Shi'ite Muslim Houthis and ultra-conservative Sunni Salafis has increased in northern Yemen in the last several months, with at least 210 people killed.

The sectarian rivalry has cast a shadow over reconciliation efforts in Yemen, a U.S.-ally that is home to one of the most active wings of the Sunni militant force al-Qaida.

The country, in turmoil since a popular uprising ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011, is also facing southern secessionists and an economic crisis.