TIRANA: As Washington promised to hold Tehran responsible for targeting its Nato ally, Albania severed diplomatic ties between The two countries on Wednesday after an alleged cyberattack against the government this summer.
Since Tirana hosted the Iranian resistance group the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) on its territory, Albania and Iran have been bitter enemies.
The Albanian government’s computer systems were attacked on July 15 in an effort to “paralyze public services as well as hack data and electronic communications from the government networks,” according to Prime Minister Edi Rama’s accusation on Wednesday.
Rama claimed his nation severed connections with Iran over the purported incident, which was brought up for the first time in Tirana.
The severing of diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran has been resolved by the Council of Ministers, according to Rama.
“The aforementioned attack was ineffective. Damages may be viewed as insignificant in light of the aggressor’s objectives. No data was permanently deleted, and all systems returned to full functionality.
The Iranian embassy employees and diplomats have 24 hours to depart the country, the prime minister continued.
Washington slammed Iran for the alleged cyberattack after the announcement and vowed to support its ally in the Balkans.
According to a statement from Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, “The United States strongly condemns Iran’s hack against our Nato friend, Albania.
“In addition, Watson stated that “the United States will take additional action to hold Iran accountable for actions that undermine the security of a US ally and establish a worrying precedent for cyberspace.”
At the urging of the United States and the UN, Albania agreed in 2013 to accept members of the exiled group, and many have since settled in the Balkan nation.
Albania became a staunch ally of the West and the United States after the fall of its communist regime in the early 1990s. In 2009, Albania formally joined NATO.
The MEK supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the revolution that overthrew the shah in 1979, but they soon split from the new Islamic authorities and launched a long-running campaign to topple the government.
