TIRANA: Albania broke diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday, Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a statement, as the leader accused Iran of launching a massive cyberattack against the country this summer.
\n\u201cThe Council of Ministers has decided on the severance of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran with immediate effect,\u201d said Rama.
\nThe prime minister accused Iran of directing a cyberattack against Albanian institutions on July 15 in a bid to \u201cparalyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from the government systems.\u201d
\n\u201cThe 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,\u201d Rama added.
\nThe prime minister went on to say that Iranian diplomats and support staff had 24 hours to leave the country following the announcement.
\nAlbania and Iran have been bitter foes for years, stemming from Tirana\u2019s hosting of the Iranian opposition group the People\u2019s Mujahedeen of Iran (MEK) on its soil.
\nAlbania 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.
\nFollowing the collapse of its communist government in the early 1990s, Albania has transformed into a steadfast ally of the US and the West, with the country officially joining NATO in 2009.
\nIranian opposition groups in exile have accused Tehran of targeting their events and personnel for years.
\nIn 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.
\nAlbania has expelled a string of Iranian diplomats from the Balkan country over the years, including Tehran\u2019s ambassador to the country in December 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TIRANA: Albania broke diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday, Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a statement, as the leader accused Iran of launching a massive cyberattack against the country this summer. \u201cThe Council of Ministers has decided on the severance of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran with immediate effect,\u201d said Rama. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10541,10540,1227],"class_list":{"0":"post-282055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-albania","9":"tag-cyberattack","10":"tag-iran"},"yoast_head":"\n