Albania cuts ties with Iran over Hacker Attack

Albania announced it was cutting diplomatic relations with Iran and ordered Iranian diplomats and embassy officials to leave within 24 hours following an investigation into a cyber attack on state institutions in July, Reuters reported.

"The government has decided to immediately terminate diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a video statement sent to the media.

"This ultimate response ... is fully proportionate to the severity and risk of the cyber attack, which threatened to paralyze public services, wipe out digital systems, hack government archives, steal government intranet electronic communications and cause chaos and uncertainty in the country." Rama declared.

A short time later, the White House announced that the United States had concluded that Iran was responsible for the July 15 cyber attack and subsequent hacking operations against Albania and would hold Tehran accountable for actions against its NATO ally.

Albania and Iran have had strained relations since 2014, when Tirana welcomed around 3,000 members of the exiled opposition group the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, also known by its Farsi name Mujahideen-e-Khalq, who settled in a camp near the Albanian port of Duras.

"The thorough investigation has provided us with indisputable evidence that the cyber attack against our country was organized and sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran through the engagement of four groups that carried out the aggression," Prime Minister Rama said.

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