Republican Senator Marco Rubio has stated that the two diplomats expelled yesterday by the Albanian government were not mere spies but were in direct contact with slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Rubio tweeted that their expulsion from Albania added more proof to Soleimani’s work in building a global terror network.
“More proof of the global terror network #Soleimani helped #Iran build #Albania has ordered two “diplomats” to leave because they pose a serious threat. Reports say it isn’t just because they were spies. They were in direct contact with #Soleimani,” Rubio tweeted.
Albania has expelled 4 Iranian diplomats since it hosted about 3,000 members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (Mojahedin-e Khalq) for humanitarian purposes in 2016. The MEK advocates overthrowing the Tehran regime, and are considered a terrorist organization by Iran and Iraq.
In October 2019, the Albanian State Police claimed to have uncovered a “terrorist network directed by the Iranian regime” in Albania. The network allegedly consisted of 4 Iranian citizens forming an “active terrorist cell of an external operations unit of the Iranian Quds Forces, which are part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.”
No arrests were made but police stated that the cell was planning to commit a terrorist act in March 2018, during the celebration of Novruz, frequented by high-level members of the MEK.
