In the long arc of great-power rivalry, smaller nations have always found themselves standing at crossroads not of their choosing. Bulgaria's quiet approval of an American refueling request has drawn it into the volatile geometry of the US-Iran conflict, with Tehran warning that any nation aiding Washington becomes a legitimate target. The threat may be more instrument than intention — a calculated effort to fracture NATO's cohesion by raising the political cost of European cooperation — yet the line between strategic posturing and catastrophic miscalculation has never been a reliable one.