Bulgaria: Iran didn't recall envoy over Burgas probe

Sofia News Agency quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman saying that Iranian ambassador's term is over, new envoy to arrive day after.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALE
Iranian ambassador to Bulgaria (photo credit: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov )
Iranian ambassador to Bulgaria
(photo credit: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov )
Bulgaria's  Foreign Ministry on Sunday denied media reports that Iran was slated to recall it's ambassador to Sofia over the findings of the country's investigation that implicated Hezbollah in the Burgas terror attack, the Sofia News Agency reported.
"That's not true. The term of Iran's ambassador to Sofia expires at the end of this week. A new envoy, who was appointed months ago, will arrive in Bulgaria on the next day," the news agency quoted Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vessela Cherneva as saying to TV channel Evropa.
The Bulgarian media reported over the weekend that Iran’s ambassador Gholamreza Bageri will leave Bulgaria’s capital - Sofia - and the Iranian government will downgrade its diplomatic relations with Bulgaria.
The alleged diplomatic fissure was first reported by the online edition of 24 Chasa daily, according to the English language Bulgarian wire service Sofia News Agency.
Bageri stated at a Friday press conference that the Burgas attack has "nothing to do with Iran."
Bulgaria's interior minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, accused two members of the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah of carrying out a bomb attack in the seaside resort of Burgas, which resulted in the killing of five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian Muslim bus driver. The explosion caused injuries to over 30 Israeli tourists.
The Bulgarian press reported that Bageri commented that Bulgarian-Iranians relations have been friendly prior to the Burgas attack. US and Israeli intelligence officials said in July that the terror act was a joint Hezbollah-Iran operation.
Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati said he would he assist the Bulgarians in their investigation. Two of the suspects lived in Lebanon and it is unclear if arrest warrants were issued and if the two operatives are still in Lebanon. The Jerusalem Post learned that Bulgaria has attempted multiple times over the years to compel the Lebanese authorities to extradite criminal suspects but Lebanese authorities have refused.