Sofia tells Tehran: Bulgaria not a party to the conflict

Sofia has sought contact with Tehran on the issue of the deployment of United States aircraft at the Bezmer airbase, telling it that Bulgaria is not a party to the conflict, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ivan Angelov of Prime Minister Roumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party told bTV on July 26.

As The Sofia Globe reported, Bulgaria’s National Assembly voted on July 22 to approve the hosting at Bezmer military air base of United States tanker refuelling military aircraft.

Reportedly, Iran on July 21 warned Bulgaria against allowing the US to use its territory for military operations against Tehran, saying such a move would make Sofia complicit in what it described as “aggression and war crimes”.

Angelov told bTV that Bulgaria maintains communication with Iran, and the operations of the tanker aircraft will be carried out outside the territory of Bulgaria.

“Bulgaria is not a country hostile to Iran, this week we informed Iran that we do not take any anti-Iranian position, we do not participate in this military conflict and we believe that it is the exclusive responsibility of both Iran and the United States,” Angelov said.

Since the Bulgarian Parliament’s vote, there has been no statement on the official website of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, nor on the website of the Iranian embassy in Sofia, on the topic.

(Photo of a US Air Force K-135 Stratotanker: USAF)