ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Iran has condemned the kidnapping of one of its diplomats in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, calling it an "act of terrorism," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said. Pakistani policemen inspect a bullet-riddled car of a kidnapped Iranian diplomat on Thursday. "Pakistan should do its best to protect foreign diplomats and their residential places," the spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said, according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency. At least four gunmen abducted Heshmatollah Attarzadeh near his home in Peshawar as he headed to work at the Iranian consulate, according to Pakistani police and Iranian diplomatic officials. His bodyguard, a Pakistani police officer, was shot and killed when the two men tried to resist, a Peshawar police official said.
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Diplomat was kidnapped and his bodyguard killed in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan
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Authorities believe he was kidnapped while traveling from his home to consulate
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On Wednesday, gunmen shot and killed an American aid worker in Peshawar
@placeholder's new government has tried to negotiate a deal with militants as part of its efforts to bypass military might and achieve peace through talks.