US sanctions Iran over cyberattack on Albania
The sanctions come after Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran following a July cyberattack ahead of a conference held by the Mujahedeen e-Khalq.
The Biden administration unleashed a second batch of economic sanctions on Iran in as many days on Friday, this time over Iran’s alleged recent cyberattack against Albania.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security as well as the country’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, with the latest economic penalties.
“Iran’s cyberattack against Albania disregards norms of responsible peacetime state behavior in cyberspace, which includes a norm on refraining from damaging critical infrastructure that provides services to the public,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. “We will not tolerate Iran’s increasingly aggressive cyber activities targeting the United States or our allies and partners.”
Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran Wednesday and gave its diplomats 24 hours to leave the country in response to the July cyberattack, which included a hack-and-leak operation and temporarily interrupted government services online.
