WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and its minister. In fact, the US has accused Iran of being involved in activities related to cyber-attacks. The US said that Iran had a hand in the cyber attack on Albania on July 1.
According to a Reuters report, the US has taken this step when the same incident was repeated back in Albania, after which on Wednesday Albania’s statement came that it was breaking diplomatic ties with Iran i.e. Iranian diplomats and embassy staff. was ordered to leave the country within 24 hours.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement that there are many networks of people involved in the cyber attacks and all of them are supporters of the Iranian government. “We will not tolerate Iran’s increasingly aggressive cyber activities,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in the statement.
Microsoft, whose cybersecurity research team helped investigate the incident, said in a blog post on Thursday that the Iranian cyber operation involved a combination of digital espionage techniques, data wiping malware, and online information operations. According to the researchers, the hackers aimed to embarrass Albanian government officials.
Government websites and other public services were temporarily disrupted by the July attacks. Analysts say the operation was intended to demean Albania because it was supporting the Zahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), a group based in the country. At the same time, Iran’s Foreign Minister Antony Blinken has dismissed these allegations.
