Bulgarian FM: Outgoing Iranian Ambassador Honorable Despite Our Differences

Iran's new Ambassador to Bulgaria will arrive in Sofia at the beginning of next week at the latest, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov announced Tuesday.

Mladenov's statement comes a day after he awarded Iranian Ambassador to Bulgaria Golamreza Bageri Mogadam with an honorary award for his service on the occasion of the end of his term.

The end of Golamreza Bageri Mogadam's term as Iran's Ambassador in Sofia was announced on Sunday by Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vesela Cherneva.

This announcement immediately spurred speculations in the Israeli press His Excellency was being withdrawn by Tehran as a result of the announcement of the Bulgarian government that pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah was behind the July 18, 2012 Burgas Bus Bombing, which killed 5 Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian driver.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Mladenov made it clear Tuesday that Bageri has already left the country.

"The [Iranian] Ambassador's term is over. He was a very serious and pleasant person. In spite of the dramatic differences that we had in our positions on key issues of security and the development of the region, which is situated between the two sides, he presented the positions of his government very honorably, and defended them," Bulgaria's top diplomat stated.