Two US tanker aircraft have departed from Bezmer Air Base in Bulgaria, as announced by the Bulgarian defense minister on Saturday, according to Reuters.
The United States, engaged in conflict with Iran since February 28, had requested the temporary deployment of these planes under an agreement governing joint military facility use.
Iran at the time stated that their deployment would amount to complicity in “aggression and war crimes,” an accusation dismissed by Sofia.
Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov informed reporters that the two KC-135 aircraft of the US Air Force left Bulgaria on Friday.
The deployment, approved by the Bulgarian parliament on July 22, triggered protests from local residents concerned the planes could be targeted by Iranian missiles and drones.
Stoyanov asserted that all flights conducted during their temporary assignment were training missions over allied countries. He added that Bulgaria has “no information on direct threats to 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,” the Bulgarian defense minister stated.
Reassurances from NATO’s Chief to Bulgaria
On August 20, according to Spanish news agency EFE, NATO Secretary General assured Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev that any potential Iranian attack against Bulgaria would be viewed as an attack on the entire NATO Alliance, as stipulated by the collective defense principle in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
This assurance from Mark Rutte followed reports from the British newspaper Financial Times that Tehran was considering possible retaliatory attacks against the US in Southeastern Europe.
Rutte “personally confirmed” to Radev the full support and readiness of NATO forces in the region to respond and neutralize any threats, as noted in a statement issued by Sofia’s government following the phone call between the NATO chief and the Bulgarian leader, according to Agerpres.
