Bulgaria closes Tehran embassy as Iran-Israel conflict intensifies
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 19, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 19, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Bulgaria closed its Tehran embassy and evacuated staff to Azerbaijan due to rising Iran-Israel tensions, continuing operations from Baku.
SOFIA (Reuters) -Bulgaria has closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated diplomatic staff and their families to neighbouring Azerbaijan as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensifies, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told local media on Friday.
Zhelyazkov said 12 people from the embassy and their families were evacuated after Israel advised residents to evacuate the third district of Tehran.
"The Bulgarian embassy is in the immediate vicinity of this area and we decided to have our diplomats leave the country," he said, adding that the embassy would continue to operate from Baku.
The staff drove six hours in a convoy to the border, where they waited another six hours because of border checks, he said.
(Reporting by Stoyan Nenov in Sofia, Angeliki Koutantou in Athens and Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Bulgaria closed its embassy in Tehran due to the intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel, which raised safety concerns for its diplomatic staff.
A total of 12 people, including embassy staff and their families, were evacuated from the Bulgarian embassy in Tehran.
The Bulgarian embassy will continue its operations from Baku, Azerbaijan, following the evacuation from Tehran.
The staff faced significant delays during evacuation, including a six-hour wait at the border due to border checks after a six-hour drive.
The evacuation was prompted by Israel advising residents to leave the third district of Tehran, where the Bulgarian embassy is located.
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