TEHRAN— In its latest hostile move to jeopardize the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actions (JCPOA), the United States sanctioned the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and its minister.

“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and its Minister of Intelligence for engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies,” OFAC said in its statement published late Friday.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said, “Iran’s cyberattack against Albania disregards norms of responsible peacetime State behavior in cyberspace, which includes a norm on refraining from damaging critical infrastructure that provides services to the public. We will not tolerate Iran’s increasingly aggressive cyber activities targeting the United States or our allies and partners.”

The move may hinder the JCPOA revival negotiations. It also comes while Iran has officially stated it has nothing to do with the cyberattack against Albania. Experts are warning against actions that could block a return to the JCPOA prior to November. Jacopo Scita, expert on Iran affairs and sanctions and an Al-Sabah doctoral fellow, told the Tehran Times that the move will not close the nuclear file for good, but it is unlikely that there would be any progress before November. 

“I don’t perceive this move as something that would impair the talks for good. Yet, it corroborates the feeling that a return to the JCPOA has once again stalled, and it will be unlikely that Iran and the U.S. will make any progress before November. The mid-term elections will open the very last window for the Biden and Raisi administrations to close a new deal, and we’ll see if the two are keen to compromise,” Scita told the Tehran Times correspondent on Friday. 

Iran, as one of the main victims of cyberattacks against its core infrastructure, has repeatedly stated that it considers using cyberspace to disrupt the ordinary lives of the people as immoral.

In its statement published late on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected such claims, stating, “The ministry emphasizes the Islamic Republic of Iran’s principled positions on cyberspace in international multilateral bodies in line with drafting rules and regulating this field. The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a country whose vital infrastructure has been the target of cyberattacks, rejects and condemns any use of the cyberspace as a tool to launch attacks on other countries’ vital infrastructure.”

The Foreign Ministry statement also dismissed the unproven claims against Tehran, stressing that the type of the move and the role played by third parties in fabricating the allegations against the Islamic Republic are indicative of exertion of influence by seditionist countries that sponsor terrorism.

In a second statement published on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani criticized and strongly condemned the baseless accusations of the U.S. National Security Council and the UK Foreign Office against Iran regarding an alleged cyberattack on Albania.

Kanaani pointed out that the U.S. and the UK, that had previously remained silent in numerous cyberattacks against Iran’s infrastructures and even against its nuclear facilities, and had even directly or indirectly supported those measures, lack any legitimacy to level such accusations against Tehran.

The diplomat warned against any political adventurism against Iran with such “ridiculous excuses” and expressed Iran’s complete readiness to deal with any possible conspiracy decisively and immediately that would make them feel regretful.

Similarly, Iran’s new ambassador at the United Nations condemned the deafening silence of the United States and UK regarding cyberattacks on Iran’s civilian infrastructure.

Saeed Iravani asked the U.S. and UK as to why they are silent when Iran is the target of cyberattacks and even support them. 

In a series of tweets, Iran’s mission at the UN condemned the accusations alleging that Iran was involved in the cyberattack on Albania.

The mission said the United States and the UK as lacking the authority and legitimacy to make such accusations against Iran, noting, “As a victim of cyberattacks, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns any cyberattack on civilian infrastructure in all forms.”

As an ethically-run country, Iran will never use cyberspace to attack core infrastructures of countries, since it considers it as a war against innocent civilians. Disruption of ordinary people’s lives has no place in Iran’s policies.

Over the past days, the United States has been actively trying to provoke NATO members to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty against Iran, accusing Tehran of being involved in a cyberattack against Albania, a NATO member. 

Article 5 of the NATO chart is labeled “Collective Defense”. 

“Collective defense means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies,” as stated in NATO’s website.

“The principle of collective defense is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty,” it continued. 

NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Asked whether the United States would support a joint response from NATO, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said invoking collective self-defense through the transatlantic alliance's Article Five requires “multiple processes,” Al Arabiya reported. 

“NATO allies will make their own sovereign decisions about how to respond to the cyberattacks, including whether to invoke... Article Five,” she said.

“Our role here is to support Albania's efforts to hold Iran accountable and to work with Albania to strengthen its cybersecurity.”

However, despite the efforts of the United States to provoke NATO members to invoke Article 5, the statement released by NATO doesn’t speak of this matter. 

“We stand in solidarity with Albania following the recent cyberattack on its national information infrastructure. Allies acknowledge the statements by Albania and other Allies attributing the responsibility for the cyberattack to the Government of Iran. We strongly condemn such malicious cyber activities designed to destabilize and harm the security of an Ally, and disrupt the daily lives of citizens. NATO and Allies support Albania in strengthening its cyber defense capabilities to withstand and repel such malicious cyber activities in the future,” the statement released by NATO said. 

“Malign actors seek to degrade our critical infrastructure, interfere with our government services, extract intelligence, steal intellectual property and impede our military activities. Allies are committed to protecting their critical infrastructure, building resilience and bolstering their cyber defenses. We will continue raising our guard against such malicious cyber activities in the future, and support each other to deter, defend against and counter the full spectrum of cyber threats, including by considering possible collective responses,” the statement by NATO continued.

“We promote a free, open, peaceful and secure cyberspace. We pursue efforts to enhance stability and reduce the risks of conflict by promoting respect for international law, and the voluntary norms of responsible state behavior in cyberspace, as recognized by all members of the United Nations. We call on all States to respect their international commitments to upholding a norms-based approach to cyberspace,” the NATO statement concluded. 

The news broke out while media reported of Albanian police’s mistreatment of Iranian diplomats in Tirana.

In this regard, Kanaani raised alarm following media reports that local officials in Albania's capital Tirana had unlawfully communicated with the Iranian embassy and its staff.

Kanaani went on to say that if the media claims are genuine, the treatment towards the Iranian diplomats violated international law and the Vienna Convention on diplomatic rights, and that the Albanian government will be held accountable for the consequences of breaching the convention.

Albania cut diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday, ordering all Iranian diplomats and embassy personnel to leave the country within 24 hours.

The stated cause is a purported Iranian hack on Albanian government institutions and agencies.

The move, revealed in a video speech by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, caused eyebrows throughout the world because Tehran has been friendly with Tirana.

The purported cyberattack is believed to have occurred in mid-July and impacted government services and institutions.

Albania's prime minister claimed his country had "indisputable evidence" of an Iranian role in the cyberattack.

In what appeared a coordinated move with the Albanian government, the White House National Security Council issued a statement on the alleged cyberattack and expressed solidarity with Albania. “The United States strongly condemns Iran’s cyberattack against our NATO Ally, Albania. We join in Prime Minister Rama’s call for Iran to be held accountable for this unprecedented cyber incident. The United States will take further action to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the security of a U.S. ally and set a troubling precedent for cyberspace,” the U.S. statement said. 

The White House added, “For weeks, the U.S. government has been on the ground working alongside private sector partners to support Albania’s efforts to mitigate, recover from, and investigate the July 15 cyberattack that destroyed government data and disrupted government services to the public. We have concluded that the Government of Iran conducted this reckless and irresponsible cyberattack and that it is responsible for subsequent hack and leak operations.”

With the harsh winter ahead, the U.S. and its allies in Europe are desperate to find a replacement for Russia's oil more than ever, and even the most optimistic commentators do not expect the West would survive this winter without Iran's oil in the global market. The traditional mistake of the U.S. politicians in "sacrificing everything" to keep the dying regime in occupied Palestine alive is costing them yet another national disaster. And this time, Washington is making that mistake to uphold a position for which Albania is just a scapegoat. However, recent diplomatic activities in Iran indicate Tehran’s tendency to forget about the JCPOA as a solution for any kind of international or domestic problem.