Iranian diplomats asked to leave Albania following the severing of diplomatic ties burned documents before leaving, the UK-based news agency Reuters reported.
An unidentified person working for the agency claimed to have seen Iranian diplomats taking some documents out of the embassy building on Thursday morning, throwing them into barrels and burning them.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced yesterday that his country had cut ties with Iran and that Iranian diplomats would leave the country within 24 hours.
Rama claimed that the reaction was proportionate and that Iran had “launched cyberattacks aimed at paralyzing public services and wiping out digital systems.”
Tehran, for its part, condemned the decision and said the allegations were baseless.
Allegations of cyber attacks
On July 15, the Tirana government announced that it had been subjected to a massive cyberattack targeting the country’s digital infrastructure.
Following an investigation, Albania claimed that Iran had organized the attack. The US also supported Albania and argued that Iran was behind the attack.
In a written statement, National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said, “The United States condemns the Iranian cyberattack against NATO ally Albania.”
Relations between Albania and Iran have been strained since 2014. During that period, Tirana allowed 3,000 members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMO), a socialist group aiming to overthrow Tehran’s rule, to stay in the city of Durres. Iran, which considers the PMO a terrorist organization, reacted strongly to the decision.
