Minister of Defense Dimitar Stoyanov made serious accusations during a briefing at the National Assembly, stating that Iran is conducting a highly effective hybrid operation, which, unfortunately, is being aided by the actions of Bulgarian politicians. According to him, this hybrid campaign will continue, which is why he called on members of parliament to exercise much greater responsibility when commenting on Tehran's positions in an irresponsible manner.

Responding to questions regarding current intelligence on potential threats and specifically whether American aircraft had left Bezmer due to insufficient base security, Stoyanov declined to provide specifics, citing the confidential nature of the information. However, he categorically denied speculations that the withdrawal of the aircraft was linked to security issues, emphasizing that everything occurred according to a pre-arranged schedule: "They left just as planned, for which we had prior information. There is an operational pace, and this pace is being maintained."

In the context of the flights of American tanker aircraft, President Rumen Radev clarified that the two aircraft stationed at Bezmer did not conduct flights in a southerly direction. All their missions were directed solely to the north and west toward Alliance member states, for the purpose of participating in scheduled training and joint exercises.

Tensions on the topic arose following a Financial Times report from August 19, cited by BTA, which revealed that Iranian forces were considering options for strikes against American assets in Southeast Europe. According to the publication, which cited two internal sources close to the regime in Tehran, a potential target is Bulgaria due to the country's decision to provide the Bezmer airbase for refueling American military aircraft.