ALBANIA After the Iranian cyber attack, Tirana breaks relations with Tehran and closes the embassy

For Prime Minister Edi Rama, there is “irrefutable evidence” of the involvement of the Islamic Republic in an action that took place in July. The attacks focused on public services, state records and the data of members of an Iranian exile group. Before leaving the Iranian embassy, ​​the staff burned several documents.

Tirana () – Albania has interrupted diplomatic relations with Tehran and has ordered diplomats and employees of the Iranian representation to leave the embassy, ​​accusing it of having orchestrated a massive cyberattack against the country. Prime Minister Edi Rama presented the results of an investigation that yields “irrefutable evidence” that the Islamic Republic “used four groups” to launch a cyber attack on July 15. In response to the decision, Iranian embassy staff members set fire to several documents early in the morning before leaving the building. As reported Reuters, a source claims to have seen a man throw documents into a rusty barrel and set them on fire. The flames lit up all three floors of the building.

In a rare video message posted yesterday, the Albanian head of government said he had ordered diplomats and employees to leave the country within 24 hours. According to Edi Rama, the July cyberattacks “threatened to paralyze public services, erase digital systems and hack State records, steal electronic communications from the Executive Branch’s intranet and sow chaos and insecurity.”

Among those who point to Tehran is also the United States, a close ally of Albania, which is announcing at this time “new initiatives to hold Iran responsible for the actions and threats to the security of an ally of the United States” (and NATO member ). On the other hand, the leaders of the Islamic Republic criticize Tirana’s decision to close diplomatic channels and describe as “baseless proclamations” the accusations launched by Albania and corroborated by the United States.

Since 2014, tension has marked relations between the two countries. The confrontation would have originated after a decision by Tirana, at the request of the United States: to welcome some 3,000 members of the exiled opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (Iranian National Liberation Army, MEK), stationed in a center near Durres. Before that, the militants were based in Iraq and had a discreet presence in France. A few days after the cyberattack, the Albanian media reported that the hackers they had published personal data of the members of the group, stored in the archives of the state computers. Among the sensitive data leaked were personal phone numbers, health and social security cards with names and photographs.

This morning an atmosphere of apparent calm reigned around the diplomatic representation of the Islamic Republic, located just 200 meters from the offices of the Albanian Prime Minister. However, a black car with diplomatic plates and tinted windows was seen entering and leaving the building, while an agent guarded the entrance.

According to analysts, the Tehran attack was carried out because Tirana not only hosts, but also authorizes – and supports – the attacks and activities of hostile groups against Iran. The United States withdrew the designation of MEK as a terrorist group in 2012, after a strong demand from pressure groups. In recent years, some Republican figures, including former Bush and Trump administration officials, have openly endorsed the opposition group and its activities against the Islamic Republic.