Over 80 'spies' expelled in 5 years in Albania, 20% Iranians

Ehsan Bidi

 More than 80 people of different nationalities have been declared non grata by the Albanian authorities in the last 5 years.

20% of these persons classified as unwanted are of Iranian nationality.

The most recent case was that of Ehsan Bidi, who the day before was captured by anti-terror near the green border with Greece.

For Bidi, has been requested the voluntary departure from the country, but by order of the Minister of Interior, from October 17, he was declared "non grata" for at least the next 15 years, Euronews Albania reports.

The decision is related to the suspicions of the intelligence services according to which, Ehsan Bidi but also other deported Iranians, are part of the Iranian agencies and work against the mujahedeen community known as MEK.

In the last 3 months there are at least 5 Iranian citizens who have been detained by the police on suspicion of being funded by an Iranian espionage network. 2 of them were declared unwanted and at the beginning of this year, 2 diplomats of the Iranian embassy in Tirana were expelled from the country.

But these are not the only cases from the ranks of Iranian diplomacy. In 2018, the ambassador of Iran in Tirana, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and another diplomat was declared non grata, because according to the intelligence services they were involved in some activities that violated national security.

In the same year, two Iranians attempted to stage an attack on the premises of the Bektashi capital during the celebration of Sultan Nowruz, which fortunately failed, and the perpetrators were arrested in 2019 as part of a terrorist cell.