While most European governments have called for restraint following the escalation of violence in the Middle East, Albania has emerged as one of the most outspoken backers of the US-Israeli military action against Iran, with its top leaders publicly endorsing strikes and calling for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to be designated a terrorist organisation.

Tirana’s stance reflects both Albania’s staunch support for the US and its poor relations with Iran, which have long been strained by the Balkan country’s hosting of members of the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK). 

As news of the initial attacks and Iranian retaliation emerged, Prime Minister Edi Rama took to social media to voice unambiguous support for Washington and Israel, declaring that “It’s high time to cut the rope and go straight to the point.”

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a terrorist organisation and it must be treated as such,” Rama wrote on February 28. “Not only through sanctions against the Khomeinist Republic, but by officially calling it by its true name and listing it among terrorist organisations, as the United States and Canada have already done.”

Rama went further than most European leaders, who have largely stopped short of backing the strikes and instead called for de-escalation after Iran retaliated against Israel and US-linked targets in the Gulf.

“Not only because we stand firm with Israel and with the peace-seeking brotherly Arab countries. Not only because we support the United States in militarily supporting Israel today under the leadership of President Donald Trump,” Rama wrote. “But first and foremost, on a day like this, when acts, not just words, are required, in honouring the endless innocent victims of the bloody Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“We fully endorse every decisive effort to prevent once and for all the murderers in Tehran from acquiring nuclear or any other military capacity to harm Israel or any other peace-loving nation in the Middle East,” he added. “Terrorism must be named. And once named, it must be stopped.”

Diplomatic rupture

Albania’s hard line reflects years of deteriorating ties with Tehran, largely stemming from its hosting of the MEK. In September 2022, Rama announced that Iran was behind a massive cyberattack on Albanian government servers two months earlier and severed diplomatic relations.

“The in-depth investigation provided us with irrefutable evidence that the cyber aggression against our country has been orchestrated and sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Rama said at the time.

“Based on the above, the Council of Ministers has decided with immediate effect the termination of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.

According to Albanian authorities, the July 2022 attack aimed to “destroy the Albanian government’s digital infrastructure, paralyse public services and steal data and electronic communications from government systems.”

Rama has since framed Albania’s position as rooted in direct experience rather than abstract geopolitics.

“Albania has faced firsthand the barbaric face of the Tehran regime through its cyber aggressions against our country. For us, this is not abstract geopolitics. It is national security, moral and legal clarity,” he wrote last week. “Albania will act accordingly.”

Meanwhile, although Rama was recently caught on video mocking US President Donald Trump with fellow European leaders, there public support for the US in Albania is very high, a factor often attributed to US support for Kosovo’s independence. 

Backing Gulf allies

President Bajram Begaj echoed the prime minister’s stance, stating on March 1 that “Albania stands with our strategic allies in efforts to eliminate any terrorist threat and to confront the Ayatollah regime of Iran.”

“We express our full support for Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain — whose citizens are facing aggressive attacks from the Ayatollah regime,” Begaj wrote. “We pray for peace, security, and the restoration of stability in the region.”

Foreign Minister Elisa Spiropali linked regional tensions to the treatment of Iranian citizens. “We cannot treat this as a geopolitical episode. We must see it for what it is: a confrontation of a society with oppression,” she wrote.

However, she added: “We condemn any attack on civilians and any action that risks uncontrolled military escalation. The security of our allies and regional stability cannot be called into question.”

The MEK factor

Since 2014, around 3,000 members of MEK group have relocated to Albania, many after leaving Iraq. The MEK, once designated a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States but delisted more than a decade ago, is still considered a terrorist group by Tehran.

Iran views the organisation as a hostile force. The group opposed the 1979 Islamic Revolution and later sided with Iraq during the 1980–88 Iran-Iraq war, leaving it with little apparent support inside Iran.

Albanian authorities have accused Iranian agents of plotting attacks against MEK members on their soil. In 2019, police said they had foiled several planned attacks targeting the group. Iranian diplomats have been expelled from Albania multiple times in recent years over alleged security threats linked to the exiles.

Kosovo follows suit

Albania’s position has been mirrored in neighbouring Kosovo, another staunch US ally in the Western Balkans.

President Vjosa Osmani said on February 28 that “The hour of freedom has come for the people of Iran, thanks to the leadership of the United States and President @realDonaldTrump.”

“As always, the Republic of Kosovo unwaveringly stands with the United States and its allies in defending freedom, peace, security, and stability,” she wrote, adding that Kosovo “strongly condemn[s] the attacks of the Iranian regime against our allies in the Middle East.”

Prime Minister Albin Kurti convened an emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss the US operation against Iran, stating that “The institutions of the Republic of Kosovo stand steadfastly alongside our friends and strategic allies, and in particular the United States of America, in efforts to maintain international peace, security and stability,” as reported by Telegrafi.

Kosovo “supports the actions taken by the US against the objectives of the Ayatollahs' regime in Iran, assessing them as measures aimed at preventing further escalation and limiting destabilising capacities in the region,” Kurti said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Glauk Konjufca said that “Kosovo stands with the United States in efforts to deter regimes that threaten international peace and security,” saying the Iranian regime had “oppressed its own people, destabilised the region, and supported actions that undermine global stability.”