U.S. Sanctions Iran Over Cyberattack

The Biden Administration on Friday sanctioned Iran’s intelligence ministry (MOIS) and its top intelligence official, minister Esmail Khatib, in response to a cyberattack the country allegedly launched on Albania last month, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The move came as the White House National Security Council condemned Tehran for conducting an “unprecedented” cyberattack that targeted Albanian government digital services and websites on July 15.

Albania is a U.S. ally as a member of NATO.  “We will not tolerate Iran’s increasingly aggressive cyber activities targeting the United States or our allies and partners,” Brian Nelson, the under secretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the release.

"Iran’s cyberattacks targeting civilian government services and critical infrastructure sectors can cause grave damage to these services and disregard norms of responsible peacetime state behavior in cyberspace" Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a separate statement.

According to him, since at least 2007, the MOIS and its cyber actor proxies "have conducted malicious cyber operations targeting a range of government and private-sector organizations across various critical infrastructure sectors"

"The United States will continue to use all appropriate tools to counter cyberattacks against the United States and our Allies," he added.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.