Foreign Ministry on Wednesday strongly condemned a decision by Albania to sever diplomatic relations with Tehran as “ill-considered” and “short-sighted”, rejecting involvement in a July cyberattack targeting the European country.

Iran PressIran News: In a statement, Iran's Foreign Ministry termed the Albanian government’s move as "short-sighted in international relations."

The ministry dismissed the allegations as "baseless," saying Tehran has "principled positions" in the area of cyberspace, and the country has itself been a "target" of cyberattacks.

The statement went on to say the prompt statement from the US and its coverage in the Israeli media showed the existence of a pre-designed plan to create a political atmosphere against Iran.

The statement also referred to Albania hosting the terrorist group Mujahideen e Khalq (MKO), which has plenty of Iranians' blood on its hands.

Albania, a member of the NATO alliance, is home to about 3,000 members of the MKO who live at Ashraf 3 camp in Manez, 30 kilometers west of the capital Tirana.

It has created deep fissures in relations between the two countries.

The MEK members fled Iran after the 1979 revolution and took refuge in France, followed by Iraq and then Albania. The group was on the list of "terrorist organizations" of the US and EU for many years.

Earlier on Wednesday, Tirana decided to snap diplomatic ties with Iran and ordered Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave the country within 24 hours.

Founded in 1965 in Iran, the MKO was labeled as the organization of “hypocrites” by the Iranian people a few years after the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The MKO has carried out mass terrorist actions, including the detonation of a bomb at the office of the Islamic Republic Party that led to the killing of 72 officials, the then Chief Justice of Iran Mohammad Beheshti being among them. The MKO’s terrorist operations also included bombing the offices of the President and Prime Minister of Iran in 1981 and the late assassination of high-ranking military commanders.

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