Albania locates Iran behind cyber attacks last July. Now all contacts are cut. All Iranian embassy staff must leave Albania within one day. Tehran reacts with incomprehension.
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama.
(dpa) Albania, a NATO member, has severed diplomatic relations with Iran with immediate effect. This was announced by Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama on Wednesday. He justified this by saying that there was “irrefutable evidence” that Iran was behind massive July 15 cyber attacks aimed at crippling Albanian state institutions. All Iranian embassy staff must leave Albania within 24 hours, Rama said. The NATO partners and other friendly states have also been informed.
Four groups involved
“An in-depth investigation provided us with irrefutable evidence that the cyber aggression against our country was orchestrated and sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which hired four groups to attack Albania,” Rama said. One of these groups is notorious and has been involved in previous cyber attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Emirates, Kuwait and Cyprus.
In Albania, the attack failed to achieve its goal, Rama said. “Compared to the targets of the attackers, the damage can be considered minor. All systems were restored and nothing was irretrievably lost.”
“Unfounded allegations”
Tehran reacted with incomprehension. “It was an ill-considered and hasty decision based on unfounded allegations,” the Foreign Ministry said in the evening. Iran itself is a victim of cyber attacks and therefore condemns this form of sabotage. Relations between the two countries had deteriorated when Albania became a haven for larger numbers of members of Iran’s militant opposition People’s Mujahideen movement in 2016.