The White House promised on Wednesday that the United States “will take additional steps to hold Iran accountable” after a recent cyberattack on Washington’s ally Albania.
“The United States strongly condemns Iran’s cyber attack on our NATO ally, Albania,” US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson wrote in a statement.
After several weeks of investigation in Albania following a large-scale cyberattack on July 15, the Americans “concluded that the Iranian government carried out this reckless and irresponsible cyberattack and was responsible for the to hack and the subsequent data leak.” The White House believes that this attack “sets a disturbing precedent.”
“Iran’s behavior violates the rules governing responsible state behavior in cyberspace in peacetime,” Watson said.
Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday. and the Iranian embassy in that country received an official notification demanding that all its diplomatic, technical, administrative and security personnel leave the territory in the next 24 hours.
Albania turned decisively to the West after decades of isolation under the communist regime of Enver Hoxha.
The small Balkan country, which joined NATO in 2009 and is a candidate for the European Union, has had crises with Iran in the past.
The strong US reaction comes as negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran remain deadlocked, with Washington accusing Tehran of showing no interest in reaching a solution acceptable to all parties.
Nuclear: US warns without rapid progress it will be ‘impossible’ to save Iran deal
Source: Observadora
