Albania severs diplomatic relations with Iran, orders embassy closed, following cyberattack
For Prime Minister Edi Rama, “incontrovertible evidence” proves Iran’s involvement in a July attack that targeted Albania’s public services, administration, and an Iranian exiled group. Before leaving, embassy staff burnt documents.
Tirana (AsiaNews) – Albania has broken off diplomatic relations with Iran and ordered Iranian diplomats and staff to leave the embassy, accusing the Middle Eastern country of orchestrating a massive cyberattack that struck the Balkan nation.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said a probe had “incontrovertible evidence” that Iran “hired four groups” to conduct a cyber offensive on 15 July.
Following the decision, Iranian embassy officials began destroying documents in the early hours of this morning, ahead of their departure. A witness told Reuters that a man in the embassy threw papers in a rusted barrel, with flames illuminating the walls of the three-story embassy.
In a rare and unusual video message released yesterday, the Albanian prime minister gave the diplomats and staff 24 hours to leave the country.
According to Edi Rama, the July cyberattack “threatened to paralyze public services, erase digital systems and hack into state records, steal government intranet electronic communication, and stir chaos and insecurity in the country.”
The United States, a close ally of Albania, added its voice of condemnation, promising to “take further action to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the security of a U.S. ally.”
In Iran, the government slammed Albania’s claim, backed by the United States, as “baseless”.
Relations between the two countries have been deteriorating since 2014, following Tirana’s decision to take in, at US request, some 3,000 members of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK)[*], an exiled opposition group, housed at a camp near Durrës. Previously the militants had been based in Iraq and (discretely) in France.
A few days after the cyberattack, Albanian media reported that the hackers had published personal data of MEK members, taken from Albanian state computers, such as social and security numbers, names, and photos.
This morning, the situation appeared calm outside the Iranian embassy in Tirana, which is located just 200 metres from the Prime Minister's Office.
A black car with diplomatic plates and darkened windows was seen going in and out as a police officer guarded the entrance.
Analysts believe that Iran’s decision to attack Albania stems from the fact that the latter is not only letting the MEK remain in its territory but is actually backing the group’s hostile attacks and activities against Iran.
The United States lifted the MEK's terrorist designation in 2012, following intense lobbying.
In recent years, Republican party officials in the United States, including former Bush and Trump administration officials, have openly embraced the opposition group and its activities against the Islamic Republic.
[*] National Liberation Army of Iran.
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