Albania cuts ties with Iran over cyberattack ordering its Embassy to leave within 24 hours

TIRANA, September 7 – “The Council of Ministers has decided on the severance of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran with immediate effect.”

This was the announcement made public by Prime Minister Edi Rama who said on Wednesday that Albania broke diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday over an alleged cyberattack against Tirana’s government this summer, and the Iranian diplomats and embassy staff had 24 hours to leave this Balkan country.

Albania and Iran have been bitter foes for years, stemming from Tirana’s hosting of the Iranian opposition group the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) on its soil, and the latest decision is not surprise as it comes after a string of measures taken by the Albanian government climaxing with the expulsion of the former Iranian Ambassador.

Rama accused Iran of directing a cyberattack against Albanian institutions on July 15 in a bid to “paralyse public services and hack data and electronic communications from the government systems”.

It was the first time Tirana spoke about the alleged attack, and Rama said his country cut ties with Iran over it. “The said attack failed its purpose. Damages may be considered minimal compared to the goals of the aggressor. All systems came back fully operational and there was no irreversible wiping of data,” said the government head.  “This extreme response … is fully proportionate to the gravity and risk of the cyberattack that threatened to paralyse public services, erase digital systems and hack into state records, steal government intranet electronic communication and stir chaos and insecurity in the country.”

Following the announcement, the United States lambasted Iran for the alleged cyberattack, vowing to provide support to its ally in the Balkans. “The United States strongly condemns Iran’s cyberattack against our NATO ally, Albania,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement quoted by local and foreign news agencies. “The United States will take further action to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the security of a US ally and set a troubling precedent for cyberspace,” Watson added.

Albania agreed in 2013 to take in members of the exiled group at the request of Washington and the United Nations, with thousands settling in the Balkan country over the years.

Following the collapse of its communist government in the early 1990s, Albania has transformed into a steadfast ally of the United States and the West, officially joining NATO in 2009.

The MEK backed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the 1979 revolution that ousted the shah but rapidly fell out with the new Islamic authorities and embarked on a decades-long campaign to overthrow the regime.

The MEK regularly hosts summits in Albania that have long attracted support from conservative US Republicans, including former vice president Mike Pence who delivered a keynote address at an event in June. A month later, the group postponed another summit citing unspecified security threats targeting the event. The summit was called off “upon recommendations by the Albanian government, for security reasons, and due to terrorist threats and conspiracies”, the MEK said in a statement released in late July.

The gathering was supposed to be attended by or joined online by various high-profile political delegations, including hundreds of lawmakers from six continents, organisers said.

Iranian opposition groups in exile have accused Tehran of targeting their events and personnel for years.

The MEK, which has been based in Albania since 2013, is regarded as a terrorist organisation in Iran and has long sought the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

Designated a terrorist organisation by the US in 1997, the MEK was removed from the terror list in 2012 and now counts numerous American politicians – mainly those opposed to Iran – among its supporters.

In 2018, Belgian police thwarted a terrorist attack that was supposed to target an Iranian opposition rally outside Paris, after which an Iranian diplomat was convicted for supplying explosives for the plot.

Albania has expelled a string of Iranian diplomats from the Balkan country over the years, including Tehran’s ambassador to the country in December 2018.

Though there has been no official response from Iran, the Fars News Agency – a news outlet close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – reported on the news, referring to Albania’s support for the “hypocrites” of the MEK.

The move to cut ties with Iran was also praised by the opposition political forces, some of whose leaders said it was a delayed action.  /Argumentum.al