JAKARTA - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Bulgaria to reconsider its decision to allow the temporary deployment of US military aircraft at Bezmer Air Base, Iranian Government media reported on Thursday.
In a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Velislava Petrova-Chamova, Foreign Minister Araghchi said Sofia's approval of the US request to place military aircraft at the base to support military operations was tantamount to facilitating aggression against Iran, adding that the move was unacceptable and contrary to the traditional friendship between the two countries, as reported by Al Arabiya from Reuters (31/7).
Bulgaria's parliament last week approved the temporary deployment of up to eight US KC-135 tanker planes and up to 250 personnel at the Bezmer air base despite objections from Iran.
Sofia said no offensive weapons would be deployed and the move did not make Bulgaria a party to the military operation.
The Mullah's state has repeatedly warned countries that allow their territory to be used for US military operations against Iran that they could "face consequences."
In a separate conversation with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, Foreign Minister Araghchi stressed the importance of preventing foreign military bases in Cyprus from being used against Iran.
Cyprus itself hosts two British sovereign military bases, including RAF Akrotiri, which was hit by an Iranian drone in early March, days after Israel and the US launched an attack on Iran.
It is known that the UK has agreed to the US request to use its bases to launch defensive attacks on Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers since the beginning of the war.
This arrangement was maintained by the new British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, in July, who encouraged the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to warn the UK not to facilitate US military operations against Iran.
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