Turkey Helping Iran To Open Interest Section In Albania

A police officer stands in front of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as Albania cuts ties with Iran and orders diplomats to leave over cyberattack, in Tirana, Albania, September 8, 2022.
A police officer stands in front of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as Albania cuts ties with Iran and orders diplomats to leave over cyberattack, in Tirana, Albania, September 8, 2022.

Iran's foreign minister says an Iranian interest section will be opened in Albania through Turkey in the absence of diplomatic relations with Tirana.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian revealed Saturday that the Iranian foreign ministry has agreed to open a section in Albania for Iranian interests through Turkey.

According to IRNA state news agency, as part of a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Amir-Abdollahian also thanked the Turkish government for its support in this regard.

Albania terminated its diplomatic relations with Iran in September last September accusing the Islamic Republic of launching cyber-attacks against the country's infrastructure.

Relations between Albania and Iran have been strained for years due to the European country's hosting of the opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) Organization.

Tirana accused Tehran of carrying out a cyber-attack against Albanian institutions to "paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications of government systems".

"This extreme response ... is fully proportionate to the gravity and risk of the cyberattack that threatened to paralyze public services, erase digital systems and hack into state records, steal government intranet electronic communication and stir chaos and insecurity in the country," stated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The attack happened around the time of a MEK conference. In early August, cybersecurity firm Mandiant expressed “moderate confidence” that the attackers were acting in support of Tehran’s efforts to disrupt the MEK conference.

The July 23-24 conference by the dissident group, titled The Free Iran World Summit, was canceled following warnings from local authorities of a possible terrorist threat. Several US lawmakers were also among the invitees.