"Provocative requests to Western media by anonymous government sources are not new in Tehran's hybrid arsenal", Ivaylo Mirchev wrote on his Facebook profile.
"Today's threat is not a random, but a targeted information strike that aims to cause confusion, turmoil and uncertainty, both in Bulgaria and its partners in the region and beyond. That is why the publication in the Financial Times should not be ignored irresponsibly and lightly, "added the MP from Democratic Bulgaria.
"Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov denied the existence of a direct threat and emphasized that "he is not guided by newspaper articles". Instead, the minister confidently refers to the same unreformed security services that, on the eve of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, assured us that Vladimir Putin's war was impossible," he also pointed out.
"Instead of the relevant Deputy Minister of Defense already being in NATO for urgent consultations with our allies after another threat from Iran and the escalating hybrid war in the media space, we heard about some vague security measures that the government hastened to take in the Bezmer region. Instead of inviting Mitrofanova for tea, sweet talks and white jam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova - Chamova should have long ago urgently demanded an explanation from the Iranian ambassador about the unceasing provocations against Bulgaria by Tehran," Mirchev added.
"The cabinet's inadequate reactions to the crisis in the Middle East and the resulting risks for the country once again make Bulgaria appear timid, contradictory, unprepared and unsure of the defensive and deterrent power of the alliances to which we belong," the MP also wrote.
"A joint meeting of the parliamentary defense and foreign policy committees should be convened to publicly clarify the level of threat - including from terrorist and sabotage actions, without hiding or withholding information from Bulgarian citizens," he added.
"National security requires "responsibility, firmness, adequacy and quick reactions - especially when Bulgaria and our society are subjected to systematic hybrid warfare, disinformation and threats from belligerent authoritarian regimes," Mirchev concluded his post with these words.