Velizar Shalamanov to FACT: Iran's nuclear program is a threat to all global peace and security

US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Iran have agreed to a complete ceasefire in the coming hours. According to Trump, Tehran will be the first to cease fire, followed by the Jewish state after 12 hours, and "on the 24th hour the world will celebrate the end of the 12-day war". Trump expects the ceasefire between Israel and Iran to be permanent. What to expect… Velizar Shalamanov, former defense minister, speaks to FACT.

- Mr. Shalamanov, we live in an era in which peace is imposed by force. Is that how it turns out. We are already talking about the “12-day war“, if we listen to US President Donald Trump…
- We live in a world where, when deterrence does not work, when we are in the gray zone, when there is a constant confrontation, getting out of this situation - probably in such critical cases as Iran's nuclear program, requires the use of force.

- What the US did now with the attack on Iran, was it a last resort or a strategy?
- It is definitely part of a strategy, but it is also a last resort in the implementation of this strategy. When other tools do not work well - I mean by other tools some diplomatic solution to end Iran's nuclear program, to end the terrorist actions of Iran's proxy organizations, apparently extreme measures are needed. You know that the threat from Iran to Israel is for the very existence of the state of Israel.

- Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov said that there is no direct threat to Bulgaria. But what lessons should we learn from what is happening in the Middle East?
- The biggest lesson we can learn is about the use of force in international relations in a deteriorated environment for control in the security sphere. There is currently no real threat to Bulgaria from the Middle East, but for us the threat is Russian aggression in Ukraine, for actions on the Black Sea coast. And at this very moment, our attention and our efforts to end the war in Ukraine should not weaken. I think that it was precisely Russia's aggression in Ukraine that triggered these processes in the Middle East.

- What is it in Ukraine that has triggered the processes in the Middle East…
- It is about Russia's gross violation of the basic rules of international law in the security architecture. This is what encourages Iran to act in this way. Perhaps the use of force against Russia will be the only tool to end the war in Ukraine.

- Many analysts, including American ones, claim that the US attack itself is a kind of violation of international rules…
- In the case of Iran, it is about a war that Tehran provoked with Israel. And in terms of the response and what is happening, we see coordinated actions between Israel and the US within the framework of an agreement between these two countries. Look, in the case of Iran, it is about actions aimed at cutting off a global threat such as Tehran's nuclear program. It goes far beyond the threat to Israel, because Iran's nuclear program is a threat to all global peace and security. And this is because Iran uses many terrorist proxy networks. As for the purely legal grounds for the US to carry out the attack, I cannot comment on them, because I am not a legal expert. After all, we live in a world where, in addition to all the rules, we must also take into account actions dictated by common sense, and so there is always room for risk and responsibility.

- What is NATO after this ostentatious performance by the US in Iran. Is NATO - with or without the US, ready to participate in resolving such conflicts?
- We need to distinguish things, because NATO is based on the Washington Treaty, and the area of applicability of Article 5 is very clearly indicated there. In the case of Israel and Iran, they are outside this area of applicability, and decisions are made by the US and by Israel outside the decision-making mechanism in NATO. The upcoming Alliance summit, in my opinion, will once again demonstrate that the Washington Treaty works and NATO's mandate is clear. The countries are making good use of the existing mechanisms based on all security challenges. Things that are outside this mandate cannot be considered a problem that is related to NATO. If the US wants to raise questions about its security within NATO, they will be discussed. As we have seen, the operation in Afghanistan was started by the US, and then it was supported by NATO and a wider coalition. The same happened in Iraq later.

- Do you see politicians like Trump in Europe who are decisive. Trump says something and does it?
- We are clearly in a phase where diplomacy is at a certain point. This is a continuous process of using different tools - I am talking about diplomacy and military means, because it is clear that they can work effectively in the context of real politics. As far as determination is concerned, we see that British Prime Minister Starmer, French President Macron and German Chancellor Merz are demonstrating determination as leaders of Europe. They also have the support of leaders in Poland, in the Scandinavian countries, in Italy. It is clear that this political determination to act is gaining strength. But the main challenge facing Europe is Russian aggression in Ukraine. Perhaps the example of the US supporting its ally Israel in resolving a sensitive issue of international security would be useful for European countries to take the same decisive action. European security is being tested by the sensitive issue of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.