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Albania deports two Iranian diplomats citing ‘serious threat’

15 January 2020 19:35 (UTC +04:00)

Albania has ordered two Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours, saying that they pose “a serious threat” to Albania, APA reports citing Al Arabiya.

The two diplomats are Mohammed Peimanemati, an adviser to the Iranian embassy in Tirana, and Seyed Ahmad Hosseini, Iran’s cultural attaché in Albania.

Local reports say the two men were in direct contact with slain Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad International Airport.

Albania is home to 3200 members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) organization, an exiled opposition group.

The country had expelled Iran’s ambassador and another diplomat in December, 2018 for “damaging its national security.”