TIRANA, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Albanian anti-terror police searched the vacant Iranian embassy in Tirana on Thursday, hours after Iranian diplomats burned papers inside the premises after diplomatic relations were severed due to a cyber attack. Albania cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday after Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed the Islamic Republic for the July cyber attack and gave its diplomats 24 hours to close the embassy and leave the country. Police, wearing masks and helmets and carrying automatic rifles, entered the building – located just 200 meters (yards) from Rama’s office – after two cars with diplomatic plates had driven away, a Reuters reporter saw. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Thirty minutes later, the police were still inside. The same reporter earlier saw a man inside the embassy throwing papers into a rusty barrel, with flames lighting up the walls of the three-story building. Police officers enter the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran as Albania cuts ties with Iran and orders diplomats to leave due to a cyber attack, in Tirana, Albania, September 8, 2022. REUTERS/Florion Goga read more In a rare video speech on Wednesday, Rama said the July cyberattack “threatened to paralyze public services, wipe out digital systems and breach government records, steal the government’s intranet electronic communication and cause chaos and insecurity in country”. Washington, Albania’s closest ally, also blamed Iran for the attack and vowed to “take further steps to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the security of a US ally.” Tehran condemned the decision by Tirana to cut ties, describing the reasons for the move as “baseless allegations”. Bilateral relations have been strained since 2014, when Albania took in around 3,000 members of the exiled opposition People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran – also known by its Farsi name Mujahideen-e-Khalq – who have settled in a camp near Durrës, the main port of the country. . Days after the July 15 cyber attack, Tirana-based media reported that hackers had released personal data of opposition members stored on Albanian state computers, including personal, social and security numbers, names and photos. On Thursday morning, it appeared calm outside the embassy in Tirana, a black Audi with diplomatic license plates and tinted windows was seen driving in and out as a policeman guarded the entrance. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Florion Goga. Editing by Kim Coghill and John Stonestreet Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
