Bulgaria's Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov announced overnight Saturday that two American refueling aircraft stationed at Bezmer Air Base in the country's southeast have been removed from the facility and transferred to an undisclosed location. The minister did not specify where the planes were relocated.
The aircraft in question are KC-135 tankers, which have been used to refuel fighter jets en route to strikes on Iranian targets. They were deployed to Bulgaria on July 22 with the approval of the Bulgarian government, which insisted the planes were being used solely for training missions in allied airspace and not for operations against Iran.
The presence of the American aircraft sparked protests among residents living near Bezmer Air Base, who feared the installation would become a target for Iranian retaliation. Last week, reports emerged that Iran was considering strikes on military targets in Europe, particularly in Bulgaria, should the United States escalate tensions further.
Despite widespread assessments that the move represents a capitulation to Iranian pressure, Minister Stoyanov emphasized in his statement that "Bulgaria has not received any information about direct threats to our national security. We are working in full cooperation, and the US government had advance knowledge, which is why all our decisions have been very well-founded."
