US imposes new sanctions on Iran over Albanian cyberattack

The Biden administration has imposed new sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security over what it called “malign cyber activities” as the two countries struggle to find a way back into the 2015 nuclear deal.

The United States Treasury Department said that the sanctions were in response to a July cyberattack that disrupted government websites in Albania, which Washington and Tirana blamed on Tehran.

“Iran’s cyber attack against Albania disregards norms of responsible peacetime State behaviour in cyberspace, which includes a norm on refraining from damaging critical infrastructure that provides services to the public,” Treasury official Brian Nelson said in a statement.

“We will not tolerate Iran’s increasingly aggressive cyber activities targeting the United States or our allies and partners.”

The July cyberattack has sparked a diplomatic crisis between Albania and Iran, which has rejected the allegations it was responsible for the incident as “baseless”.

These sanctions, which also targeted Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, come a day after Washington imposed penalties on several Iranian companies, accusing them of being involved in the production and transfer of drones to Russia for the war in Ukraine.

The sanctions will freeze the assets of the targeted individuals and entities in the US and make it illegal for American citizens to do business with them.