Iran Thanks Türkiye for Assistance in Opening an Interests Section in Albania

An Albanian policeman in front of the Iranian embassy in Tirana last September. (AFP)
An Albanian policeman in front of the Iranian embassy in Tirana last September. (AFP)
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Iran Thanks Türkiye for Assistance in Opening an Interests Section in Albania

An Albanian policeman in front of the Iranian embassy in Tirana last September. (AFP)
An Albanian policeman in front of the Iranian embassy in Tirana last September. (AFP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian announced that Tehran has agreed to open an interests section through Türkiye in Albania, six months after severing diplomatic relations with Tirana.

During a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Amirabdollahian said the Foreign Ministry would open a section of Iranian interests in Albania, thanking Ankara for its assistance regard.

Last September, the Albanian government expelled the Iranian embassy staff from the country over a major cyberattack that the government blamed on Iran. It is the first known case of a country cutting diplomatic relations over a cyberattack.

Relations between Tehran and Tirana had been strained in recent years after the Balkan country agreed to receive 3,000 members of the People's Mojahedin Organization, the Iranian opposition group in exile, at the request of the US and the UN in 2013.

In July, the Mojahedin postponed the "Free Iran World Summit" global conference in Albania that was dedicated to advocating regime change, due to security threats, upon recommendations by the Albanian government.

Before canceling the conference, the US embassy in Tirana separately warned of a "potential threat" targeting the summit and warned its citizens in Albania to avoid the event and keep a low profile.



Iranian Nuclear Program Degraded by up to Two Years, Pentagon Says

Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)
Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Iranian Nuclear Program Degraded by up to Two Years, Pentagon Says

Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)
Sean Parnell. (AFP/Getty Images)

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran's nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the US military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.

Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was "probably closer to two years." Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment.

"We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department (of Defense) assess that," Parnell told a news briefing.

US military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound (13,600-kg) bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.

The evolving US intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran's program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday's briefing.

Such conclusions often take the US intelligence community weeks or more to determine.

"All of the intelligence that we've seen (has) led us to believe that Iran's -- those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated," Parnell said.

Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran's nuclear program have been.

Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it.

But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes.

A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran's nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear program was severely damaged.

According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.

"No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged," Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.