Tehran And Tirana Brawl Amid Flamingo Revolution

RFE
11 Jun 2026, 21:19 GMT+10

Protests in Albania over a proposed luxury resort linked to US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have unexpectedly morphed into a very public brawl between Albania and Iran.

Thousands of Albanians have taken to the streets in recent days to protest the start of construction for the $1.6 billion resort in a once-protected flamingo wetland made possible after the government fast-tracked building permits and updated environmental laws to allow five-star hotels in protected zones.

Amid the unrest -- dubbed the Flamingo Revolution for the pink birds that flock to the remote stretch of Balkan coast -- Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama fired the first shot, accusing Tehran of being involved in a "hybrid war" of disinformation by amplifying a conspiracy theory: that the resort is actually a cover to resettle Palestinians from Gaza onto Albanian soil.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei fired back on X, telling Rama to "calm down," accusing him of selling out Albania's sovereignty -- and quoting Albanian protest slogans such as "No to corruption" and "Rama goes" in their original language.

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