Albania’s hosting of an exiled Iranian opposition group was never likely to be easy. Now it’s under criminal investigation.
Between 2013 and 2016, Albania welcomed around 2,500 members of an exiled Iranian opposition group, resettled from Iraq after coming under attack from pro-Iranian groups in the wake of dictator Saddam Hussein’s fall.
Albania says that, under the deal, Mujahedin-e-Khalq [People’s Mujahedin of Iran], or MEK, committed to refrain from political activities.
A decade or so later, however, MEK finds itself under investigation on suspicion of cybercrime and inciting war.
Experts say it is hardly surprising, and reflects a failure on the part of Albanian authorities to monitor the activities of a group vehemently opposed to the Islamist regime in Iran.
“Probably the Albanian authorities were well aware about the dangers involving the decision to welcome [MEK], so it is clearly a failure that they were not kept under monitoring in order to prevent security breaches,” said international relations expert Endri Tafani.
Fatjon Gjinaj and Eni Ferhati – balkaninsight