The latest escalation between the U.S. and Iran could spread to Europe for the first time since Operation Roaring Lion ended. After previously attempting to strike Cyprus, the Islamic Republic has now issued a warning to another European nation.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman threatened Tuesday that the ayatollah regime isn’t afraid to expand the range of its attacks—and delivered an explicit warning to Bulgaria. According to the spokesman, the threat came in response to reports about a U.S. request to station military aircraft at the Bezmer Air Base in the Balkan nation, located 1,400 kilometers from Iran.
In his statement, the spokesman cited UN laws and claimed Bulgaria would be violating them, giving Iran the right to attack: “Any cooperation in attacks against Iran will be considered, from the standpoint of international law, as complicity in an act of aggression and as a war crime. Granting permission to use a country’s territory for military action against a third country constitutes, according to UN General Assembly Resolution 3314, a form of aggression.”
If the Islamic Republic does attack Bulgaria, it would indeed mark an escalation—though Iran already tried to strike Europe this year. During Operation Roaring Lion, Turkey intercepted several missiles fired from Iran toward Cyprus. After failing to reach the island, Iran sent its proxy Hezbollah, which launched drones at the British military base on Cyprus and reportedly succeeded in causing damage.