The country’s prime minister accused Iran of targeting the computer networks of Albanian institutions on July 15
Albania’s envoy to the UN informed the Security Council of the move, which he said was ‘fully proportionate’ to the gravity of Tehran’s actions
Updated 07 September 2022
AFP
TIRANA: Albania broke diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday. Announcing the decision, Prime Minister Edi Rama said Iran had launched a massive cyberattack against the country during the summer.
“The Council of Ministers has decided on the severance of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran with immediate effect,” he said.
The prime minister accused Iran of targeting the computer networks of Albanian institutions on July 15 in an attempt to “paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from the government systems.”
He said: “The said attack failed its purpose. Damages may be considered minimal compared to the goals of the aggressor. All systems came back fully operational and there was no irreversible wiping of data.”
He added that Iranian diplomats and support staff would be given 24 hours to leave the country.
In a letter to the Security Council, Ferit Hoxha, Albania’s permanent representative to the UN, officially informed member states that his country has severed ties with Iran.
He described the move as “fully proportionate to the gravity and risk posed by a state-organized and sponsored cyberattack against a sovereign country that threatened to disrupt public services, erase digital systems, steal or wipe critical state records and other electronic communications, with the aim to affect the integrity of government infrastructure to the detriment of security, paralyze its institutions and vital activity, put in danger the lives of civilians and create chaos and insecurity in the country.”
The two countries have been bitter foes for years. Albania hosts Iranian opposition group the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, after agreeing in 2013 to take in members of the exiled group at the request of Washington and the UN. Thousands of Iranians have settled in the Balkan country since then.
Following the collapse of its communist government in the early 1990s, Albania transformed itself into a steadfast ally of the US and the West, and officially joined NATO in 2009.
Iranian opposition groups in exile have accused Tehran of targeting their members and events. In 2018, Belgian police thwarted a planned terrorist attack on an Iranian opposition rally outside Paris. An Iranian diplomat was subsequently convicted of supplying explosives for the plot.
Albanian authorities have expelled a string of Iranian diplomats from the country over the years, including Tehran’s ambassador in December 2018.
(Ephrem Kossaify in New York contributed to this report.)
Trump tells Putin to end Ukraine war before mediating Iran-Israel
Updated 4 sec ago
“He actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own’,” Trump said Peskov appeared to suggest the pair had not even spoken
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump appeared Wednesday to rebuff Vladimir Putin’s offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, saying the Russian president should end his own war in Ukraine first.
“He actually offered to help mediate. I said, ‘Do me a favor, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first, okay?’” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I said ‘Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.’“
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to suggest the pair had not even spoken, telling Russian state news agency TASS: “He was speaking figuratively. Life is so eventful right now that looking back a few days is like looking back to yesterday.”
Later Wednesday Trump said a change in Iran’s government “could happen,” and also indicated that negotiations could be in the offing, without giving details.
“They want to meet, they want to come to the White House — I may do that,” Trump told reporters.
Leaked call between Thai PM and Cambodia ‘strongman’ stokes tensions
Thai PM says leak shows ‘trust problem’ with Cambodian ex-premier
Updated 26 min 48 sec ago
Reuters
BANGKOK, Phnom Penh: Relations between Thailand and Cambodia suffered a major blow on Wednesday after a leak of a telephone conversation between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and influential former Cambodian Premier Hun Sen that could further escalate tensions.
Ties between the two neighbors are at their worst in more than a decade after a row over border territory that has sparked fears of a military confrontation following a sharp rise in nationalist rhetoric and the mobilization of troops on both sides of their frontier.
The leaked June 15 phone call, which has been confirmed as authentic by both Hun Sen and Paetongtarn, shows the Thai premier telling Hun Sen, whom she called uncle, that she is under domestic pressure and urging him not to listen to “the opposite side” which includes a prominent Thai military commander at the border.
“He just want to look cool and saying things that are not useful to the nation, but in truth what we want is peace,” she told Hun Sen through a translator in the leaked audio clip, referring to the general.
Paetongtarn later told reporters her conversation with Hun Sen was part of a negotiation tactic and she has no problem with the Thai army.
“I won’t be talking privately with him (Hun Sen) anymore because there is a trust problem,” she said.
Hun Sen said the leak came from one of the 80 politicians he shared the audio recording with. Self-styled strongman Hun Sen was Cambodia’s premier for nearly four decades and has maintained a high public profile since handing over power in 2023 to his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The two governments had until recently enjoyed warm ties, helped by the close relationship between Hun Sen and Thailand’s former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn’s influential father. Both former leaders are still active in politics.
Fierce rhetoric
The leak could put that relationship in jeopardy and will add to speculation in Thailand that Paetongtarn and the powerful Thai military are at odds on how to respond to the border crisis with Cambodia.
Cambodia’s rhetoric has become more fierce in the past week, with Hun Sen blaming Thai “extremists” and the Thai army for stoking tensions, saying Paetongtarn’s government was “unable to control its military the way our country can.”
The billionaire Shinawatra family has a troubled history with the army, with two of its governments ousted by generals in coups in 2006 and 2014.
Lt. Gen. Boonsin Padklang, commander of Thailand’s Second Army Area overseeing the eastern border, on Wednesday told local media that Paetongtarn had called him to explain the leak.
“I don’t have any issue, I understand,” Boonsin said. The weeks-long standoff followed a brief border skirmish on May 28 that left a Cambodian soldier dead. Both countries have called for calm while vowing to defend their sovereignty over contested stretches of a 820-km (510-mile) land border, parts of which are undemarcated. Attempts to settle the issue have failed, with Cambodia on Sunday delivering on its vow to seek resolution at the International Court of Justice, the jurisdiction of which Thailand says it does not recognize.
On Wednesday, Cambodia’s defense ministry said Thailand had again violated its sovereignty with drone flights, trench digging and troop deployments, which Bangkok rejected.
Thousands of Cambodians joined a state-organized march in the capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday to support the government, shouting slogans, waving national flags and holding portraits of Hun Manet and Hun Sen.
“Cambodia’s land! We won’t take others’ land, we keep our land!” some chanted.
France plans European ‘initiative’ to end Iran-Israel conflict: presidency
France, UK and Germany were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers
French president urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles
Updated 56 min 2 sec ago
AFP
PARIS: France is planning along with European partners to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict between Iran and Israel, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Wednesday.
At a national security council meeting, Macron ordered Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to draw up in the coming days “an initiative with close European partners that would propose a demanding negotiated settlement to put an end to the conflict,” it said, without giving details on the nature of the plan.
Barrot has been in regular touch with his German and British counterparts since Israel launched massive air strikes against Iran on Friday.
All three countries were involved in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions.
The United States withdrew from that accord during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Macron also urged Israel to end strikes on targets in Iran not linked to nuclear activities or ballistic missiles.
He voice “concern over the current escalation, with Israeli strikes increasingly hitting targets not linked to Iran’s nuclear or ballistic program, and a mounting number of civilian victims in Iran and Israel,” his office said.
He said it was “necessary to urgently end these military operations, which pose significant threats to regional security,” it added.
The French president also urged the foreign ministry to take measures to help French citizens leave Israel or Iran if they wished to do so, the Elysee added, without providing further details.
Princess of Wales pulls out of engagement at Royal Ascot
Kate has been gradually returning to public duties since last fall
Racegoers had hoped to see Kate on Wednesday
Updated 18 June 2025
AP
LONDON: The Princess of Wales canceled plans to attend Royal Ascot on Wednesday as she continues to balance the demands of her public duties against the realities of her recovery from cancer.
Kate, as Prince William’s wife is commonly known, has been gradually returning to public duties since last fall, when she announced that she had completed chemotherapy and would return to work. At the time, she said her road to full recovery would be long and she would “take each day as it comes.”
Royal Ascot, a five-day series of horse races, is the centerpiece of the summer social season in Britain, with members of the royal family attending throughout the meeting.
Racegoers had hoped to see Kate on Wednesday, as Prince William was scheduled to awarding race prizes. William attended without his wife.
Kate, 42, announced on Sept. 9 that she had completed treatment six months after revealing she had an undisclosed type of cancer.
The announcement came six weeks after Buckingham Palace said King Charles III was also being treated for cancer, stretching the ability of the royal family to keep up with its busy schedule of public appearances. Charles has also returned to public duties.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that Islamabad had not engaged in any new military cooperation with Tehran since Israel launched attacks on Iran last week and had not held specific talks with the US over the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Iran, which borders Pakistan, has hit back with strikes against Israel after it unleashed waves of attacks on Friday at Iranian nuclear installations, missile stockpiles, scientists and military commanders, among other targets, sparking global alarm that the conflict could erupt into a regional war.
The latest escalation follows months of hostilities between Israel and Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, which intensified after the war in Gaza was launched late in 2023.
Regional powers fear a direct confrontation could spiral into a broader conflict involving major oil shipping lanes and global energy supplies.
For Pakistan, a close Iranian neighbor and a longtime opponent of Israel, a prolonged conflict risks disrupting border security, inflaming sectarian tensions at home and possibly putting it in a tight spot with Arab allies and the West.
Pakistan’s Air Force fighter JF-17 fighter jets fly past during the multinational naval exercise AMAN-25 in the Arabian Sea near Karachi on February 10, 2025. (AFP)
Speaking to Arab News, Asif said regular security cooperation was continuing with Iran along their shared border to combat militant groups, but no fresh operational coordination had been initiated in response to Israel’s attacks on Iranian territory since June 13.
“I don’t see any need for it,” the defense minister said in response to a question on whether Pakistan’s military was coordinating with its Iranian counterparts on the border or engaging in any fresh defense cooperation.
“We coordinate on a very regular basis as far as the Iran and Pakistan border is concerned because of terrorist activities … that sort of cooperation is already on. So I don’t see any new activity.”
Asked if Pakistan had held talks with Washington to discuss the fast-evolving situation, the minister said there had been no contact specifically on the crisis in the past five days.
“But we are in constant touch with the United States of America regarding the tense situation we have in this region.”
Smoke rises following what Iran says was an Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Asif said Pakistan’s leadership was instead focused on engagement with close partners like China and Muslim countries to press for calm, warning that the conflict risked engulfing the entire region.
“The countries who have religious affinity with us or geographical affinity, even China or other countries, because what we are pursuing is peace,” he said.
“And we would like to mobilize the countries of this region. This conflict can multiply and it can engulf the whole region into a situation which could be very, very disastrous.”
Diplomatic and security experts warn that the Israel-Iran hostilities could affect Pakistan by destabilizing its western border with Iran, threatening energy imports as oil prices surge and creating new pressures on Pakistan’s relations with the US and Gulf partners if Islamabad is seen as tilting too far toward Tehran.
On the other hand, if Tehran were to fall or be severely weakened, analysts say Pakistan would likely side with the US and its allies — despite being Iran’s immediate neighbor — to protect its strategic and economic interests.
Pakistani security personnel stand guard as pilgrims who evacuated from Iran walk at the Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on June 16, 2025. (AFP)
Addressing concerns over past remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that have drawn parallels between Iran and Pakistan as so-called militant Islamic regimes that needed to be deterred, Asif rejected any immediate threat to Pakistan from Tel Aviv, but stressed Islamabad would remain vigilant.
“If we are threatened by Israel, which I will discount at the moment … what happens in the coming months or years I can’t predict, but at the moment I discount (a threat from Israel),” he said.
He described Israel as a state with “hegemonic intent” whose recent actions in Gaza and against Iran were “extremely dangerous to the immediate region,” and said global public opinion was turning against Israeli policies despite support or muted reactions from many Western governments.
Asif declined to comment on reports that Pakistan had scrambled fighter jets near its nuclear sites and the Iranian border in response to Israel’s initial strikes on Iran but insisted that its nuclear security remained robust.
In addition to the Middle East tensions, Pakistan faced a major military standoff with India last month in which the two sides exchanged missile, drone and artillery attacks.
Iranian cargo trucks cross into the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan, Balochistan province on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. (AFP)
Islamabad claimed to have shot down six Indian jets and struck back at military positions, triggering fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals before a ceasefire was announced by the Trump administration on May 10.
When questioned about any direct threat to Pakistan’s national security or strategic assets as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, Asif said Pakistan’s armed forces were already on high alert following the latest confrontation with New Delhi, describing the country’s nuclear facilities as “very militantly guarded, very grudgingly guarded” and fully compliant with international safeguards.
“Since our short war with India, we have been on alert so we have not lowered guards … We can never take the risk of any attack on our nuclear facility from anywhere, that is something which is a lifeline as far as our defense is concerned,” he said.
A general view shows the destruction at the site of an overnight Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
Asif said Pakistan’s performance in the recent fight with India was evidence of his country’s defense capability and national resolve, which would deter Israel from any adventurism.
“We have just had a bout with India and we clearly established our superiority, the superiority of our armed forces, air force, Pakistan army, Pakistan navy and the determination of our people, the way the nation stood behind the armed forces,” he said.
“So I think Netanyahu or his people or his government will think many times before taking on Pakistan.”
