Yemeni authorities said Monday that they had arrested an Iranian national in the southern Hadhramaut province on suspicions that he was spying for Israel.

According to Yemen's official news agency, the man was interrogated by prosecutors in capital Sanaa late Sunday.

The news agency reported that prosecutors had also accused the Iranian national of seeking to spread the Bahai faith in Yemen.

The agency quoted one prosecutor as saying that the man had been arrested in Al-Mukalla, a city near Hadhramaut, last year.

He added that the man, 51, had settled in Al-Mukalla on the pretext of doing business in the city.

He first entered Yemen in 1991, together with his father, where he had tried to create a national homeland for adherents of the Bahai faith, according to his official charge sheet.

He further stands accused of inciting Muslims against the Islam and trying to convince them to embrace the Bahai faith.

The Anadolu Agency could not obtain immediate comment from either the Iranian or Israeli authorities regarding the accusations.

AA