Iranian hackers from the group “Homeland Justice“ have published threatening messages on social networks, in which they stated that Iran has the right to strike a camp in Albania where Iranian oppositionists live with missiles, “Euronews Albania” reported. The threats were also accompanied by a cyberattack against the website of the Tirana municipality, BTA reported.
About 3,000 dissidents from the Iranian opposition organization “Mujahideen-e Khalq“, better known by the abbreviation MEK, live in the “Ashraf 3“ camp in the town of Manza, located 30 km west of the Albanian capital Tirana.
The threatening messages were triggered by the conflict between Iran and Israel, which began last week, Euronews Albania notes. “Homeland Justice“ wrote on the social network Telegram that “the Iranians have the right to attack the camp in Manza with missiles” and informed that it had interrupted the services of the Tirana municipality website.
“We warned you to expel the MEK terrorists from Albanian soil, but you recognized them as legal refugees and provided them with facilities such as forged ID cards and passports. The current situation was created by the leaders of the Albanian government. Say hello to the disruption of city services and traffic," the message from “Homeland Justice“ reads, “Euronews Albania“ informs.
In its latest message, the hacker group writes that “over 3,000 terrorists have been forced onto Albania”, which has been “forced” to shelter them.
“This is completely understandable to the hospitable Albanians. We hope that the Iranians (who now have the legal right to fire their supernatural missiles at Camp Manza) understand this,” reads the latest message from “Homeland Justice“, quoted by the Albanian media.
Albania broke off diplomatic relations with Iran in 2022 after a cyberattack that temporarily shut down a number of websites and digital services of the Albanian state administration. At the time, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that a thorough investigation had provided irrefutable evidence that one of the cyberattacks that hit Albania in 2022 was orchestrated and sponsored by Iran.
Hackers from the group “Homeland Justice“ are believed to be responsible for the cyberattacks in Albania in 2022.
The Albanian government and international technology companies have blamed the Iranian Foreign Ministry for the cyberattack, the Associated Press recalls.
The cyberattack is believed to have been revenge for Albania providing asylum to members of the Iranian opposition group the Mujahideen. The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied being behind it and said Iran had been the victim of cyberattacks by the Mujahideen.
„Mujahideen-e Khalq“ began its activities as a Marxist organization opposing the rule of the late Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It supported the Islamic Revolution in 1979, but soon after came into conflict with its leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and declared itself against the ayatollahs' rule led by him, subsequently carrying out a series of assassinations and bombings in the Islamic Republic.
The MEK later fled to Iraq and supported Saddam Hussein's regime during his bloody eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, which turned many Iranians against the organization. Although it is now largely based in Albania, it claims to maintain a network in Iran itself.