Two US tanker aircraft have left Bulgaria’s Bezmer air base, Bulgaria's defense minister said on Saturday, nearly a month after their deployment in the Balkan country angered Iran.
The United States, which has been at war with Iran since February 28, requested their temporary deployment under an agreement governing the joint use of military facilities.
Iran said at the time that their deployment would constitute complicity in “aggression and war crimes,” a charge that Sofia dismissed.
The two US Air Force KC-135 planes left Bulgaria on Friday, Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters.
The US authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.
The deployment of the aircraft, approved by Bulgaria's parliament on July 22, led to protests by nearby residents who feared the planes would be attacked by Iranian missiles and drones.
Stoyanov said all the aircraft's flights during their temporary deployment had been training missions over allied countries and that Bulgaria had “no information about direct threats to our national security.”
“We are working in full coordination with the US government and had prior information, which is why all our decisions were well-founded,” he said.
Citing two regime insiders, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Iran has been weighing ways to broaden the confrontation beyond the Middle East if Washington intensifies military action.
One regime insider said Iran was preparing options to expand the conflict if Trump followed through on previous threats to attack Iranian infrastructure. Another said Tehran would place “no limits” on its response.
Iranian forces had assessed possible strikes against US assets in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria, which approved the use of Bezmer Air Base by US refueling aircraft last month, the sources said.
Cyprus, where a British air base was hit by a drone in March, was also identified as a potential target for retaliation against a renewed US offensive, according to one of the sources.
In response to questions about the FT report, NATO official said on Wednesday that NATO is prepared to address any threat and will always do what is necessary to defend all allies, adding that Iran has allegedly weighed attacking US military targets in Europe should Donald Trump escalate the war.
“As demonstrated earlier this year when NATO air defenses successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Türkiye from Iran on four separate occasions, our deterrence and defense posture is strong and effective,” the official said.
