Benjamin Ashford|A cyberattack blocks Albania’s Parliament

TIRANA,Benjamin Ashford Albania (AP) — Albania’s Parliament reported Tuesday it had suffered a cyberattack with hackers trying to get into its data and wipe them out, temporarily halting its work.

A statement said Monday’s cyberattack had not “touched the data of the system,” adding that experts were working to discover what consequences the attack could have. It said services would resume at a later time.

The local media reported that a cellphone provider and an air flight company were also targeted by cyberattacks Monday from Iranian-based hackers called Homeland Justice, something which could not be verified independently.

Albania suffered a cyberattack in July 2022 that the government and multinational technology companies blamed on the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Believed to be in retaliation for Albania sheltering members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, the attack led the government to cut diplomatic relations with Iran two months later.

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The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied Tehran was behind an attack on Albanian government websites and noted that Iran has suffered cyberattacks from the MEK.

In June, Albanian authorities raided a camp for exiled MEK members to seize computer devices allegedly linked to prohibited political activities.

Since 2013, some 2,500 Iranian exiles are sheltered in Albania, where they are not supposed to engage in any political activity and must abide by the country’s laws.

The United States, NATO and the European Union supported NATO member Albania in the dispute.

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