Iranian Citizen Faces Terrorism Charges in Albania

Albania Special Prosecutors Office in Tirana

If found guilty, Pooladrag faces up to 10 years for the first charge and up to 15 for the second. He is suspected of working for the Iranian secret services and of eavesdropping on The People's Mujahedin of Iran, MEK, an exiled Iranian opposition group many of whose members moved to Albania in 2013 on the advice of the US.

Since Albania decided to host the MEK on its territory, police have reported several issues between suspected Iranian agents and the opposition organization.

In 2019, police named several Iranian citizens as members of a cell planning terrorist attacks against MEK members living in Albania, while in 2018, the Iranian ambassador in Tirana and another diplomat were expelled over an alleged terrorist plot whose exact nature has not been made public.

The MEK is a controversial group. Founded in 1965 as a left-leaning opposition to the former Shah's regime, it turned against the Islamic Republic following the 1979 Revolution.

The US listed it as a terrorist organization in 1997 but removed it from the black list in 2012 after it renounced violence.

Part of the group is currently building an extended compound in central Albania to host their comrades while others live around Tirana, or have emigrated.

Mostly elderly and in some cases sick, members of the group appear to live a quiet life in Albania, despite which the Iranian government still considers them active enemies.