Iran warns Bulgaria against hosting US warplanes

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman warned Bulgaria on Tuesday not to allow the US to use the European country’s territory ‌for military operations against Iran.

Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said any activity that facilitates US attacks on Iran would amount to complicity in what he described as “aggression and war crimes”, according to Iranian state media quoted by Reuters.

Esmail Baghaei Hamaneh, spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, at a press conference. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev speaks during a doorstep at the NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey. REUTERS
Military personnel take part in the Defense Shield 23 multinational battle group military exercises in Novo Selo, Bulgaria. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The warning follows word from the Bulgarian government that it would seek parliamentary approval to station up to eight US tanker aircraft at an air base in Bulgaria, a member of NATO and the European Union.

Baghaei urged ‌Bulgaria ⁠not to become “an accomplice of aggressors and lawbreakers”, they said. The tanker aircraft are mainly used for airborne refuelling of other aircraft, including during strikes.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev, and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a NATO Summit. POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Follow The Post’s coverage of the war in Iran:


Bulgaria’s government ⁠aims to station the US aircraft at the Bezmer military facility, about 160 miles southeast ⁠of the capital Sofia.

The US and Iran have intensified strikes since an interim ceasefire ⁠deal signed a month ago unraveled, raising the possibility of a return to all-out war.

Bulgaria’s government has called for hostilities involving Iran to end. It has not announced a decision to host US military aircraft amid an internal debate on the issue.