TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran said Thursday that a team of special operatives has freed an Iranian diplomat abducted more than 19 months ago in Yemen, a rare acknowledgement by Tehran of an intel operation carried out on foreign soil. The official IRNA news agency quoted deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolahian as saying that intelligence officers undertook a "difficult and complicated operation" to secure Nour Ahmad Nikbakhat's freedom from the "hands of terrorists." Amirabdollahian added that the operation took place "in a very special area in Yemen," without elaborating or providing further details. The diplomat, who was stationed in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa at the time of his abduction, returned home on Thursday, the report said.