Iran Blasts Albania Over Reports of Heavily-armed Cops Bursting Into Embassy Amid Diplomatic Row

Albania broke off diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday after accusing the Islamic Republic of attempting to carry out a massive cyberattack meant to paralyze government institutions and steal reams of sensitive data. Tehran dismissed the “baseless” and “unsubstantiated” claims and pointed to suspected meddling by “third parties.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern over media reports that Albanian law enforcement acted in contravention of an international convention on diplomatic rights by storming the Islamic Republic’s Embassy compound in Tirana.

“If the reports by media outlets are true, this was behavior contrary to international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Rights,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters Thursday.

Earlier, media reported that Albanian police, including special forces cops wearing full body armor and helmets and armed with automatic weapons, illegally entered the Islamic Republic’s embassy building after two vehicles with diplomatic plates left.

#Members of the #police special unit enter 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. REUTERS/Florion Goga #ReurersPictures #Photojournalism #onassignment pic.twitter.com/lFSsEqHLqe

— Florion Goga (@FlorionGoga) September 8, 2022

Kanaani warned that Tirana will be held responsible for any violations against the Embassy.

Under international law, embassies are effectively considered a small piece of the country which they represent, meaning that law enforcement and other entities from the host government are not allowed to enter without special permissions.

#Embassy of #Iran in #Tirana, #Albania. Iranian diplomats must leave Albania by noon, as diplomatic relations between the two countries were broken the day before. pic.twitter.com/efzukDL6oM

— Isa Myzyraj (@IsamyzyrajAlb) September 8, 2022

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama ordered all Iranian diplomats and Embassy staff to leave the country in 24 hours on Wednesday after breaking off relations over an alleged attempted cyberattack plot by Tehran.

Rama charged Iran with trying 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.”

Kanaani called the decision to break off ties “injudicious” and said that the “cyberattack” claims were “baseless.”

The spokesman accused the United States, Israel and the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) political-militant group of influencing Albania’s decision. The MKO seeks to carry out a revolutionary overthrow of Iran’s Islamic republican form of government, and has been banned across the country as a terrorist organization since 1981. In the decades since, it has engaged in a series of terrorist bombings, assassinations, and mortar attacks, killing hundreds of people, including Iranian government officials, troops, members of law enforcement and civilians.

The MKO made Albania its headquarters in 2016, fraying ties and sparking years of mutual animosity, recriminations, and allegations of criminal plots.

Washington praised Tirana over its move to break off ties with Tehran, and slapped sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security over its alleged criminal cyber activities against the US, Albania and other US allies.