Tehran, Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has urged Bulgaria to reconsider its decision to permit the temporary deployment of US military aircraft at Bezmer air base, according to Iranian state media.
In separate calls with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova and Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Araqchi raised concerns about foreign military facilities being used in operations against Iran.
Call with Bulgaria
Araqchi told Petrova-Chamova that Sofia’s approval of a US request to station military aircraft at Bezmer air base in support of military operations amounted to facilitating aggression against Iran.
He said the decision was unacceptable and contradicted what he described as traditionally friendly relations between Iran and Bulgaria.
Iran has repeatedly warned countries that allow their territory to be used for US military operations against it that they could face consequences.
Parliamentary approval
Bulgaria’s parliament last week approved the temporary deployment of up to eight US KC-135 tanker aircraft and up to 250 personnel at Bezmer air base, despite Iranian objections.
Sofia has said that no offensive weapons would be deployed and that the arrangement did not make Bulgaria a party to military operations.
Cyprus bases
During his call with Kombos, Araqchi stressed the importance of preventing foreign military bases in Cyprus from being used against Iran.
Cyprus hosts two British sovereign military bases, including RAF Akrotiri, which was struck by an Iranian drone in early March, days after Israel and the United States began strikes on Iran.
Britain agreed early in the war to a US request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers. It later clarified that RAF Akrotiri would not be involved in its defensive agreement with the United States on using UK bases.
The wider defence arrangement was maintained by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham in July, prompting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to warn Britain against facilitating US military operations against Iran.
