There was no drama in Iranian deputy foreign minister's decision to cancel his February 2 2009 visit to Bulgaria, Dragovest Goranov, spokesperson for the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, said at his weekly briefing on February 3 2009.

The visit that was expected to throw some light on the case of Bulgarian lorry driver Zhivko Roussev, who is currently in an Iranian jail facing the death row for allegedly ferrying 135kg of heroin, was canceled by the Iranian side at the last moment.

"On February 1, the Bulgarian embassy in Teheran was informed by Iranian authorities that the visit was postponed because the deputy foreign minister's programme has been changed and I don't see any drama in that since things like this happen often," Goranov said, answering questions about the cause of the canceled visit.

As for Roussev, who was reported by Bulgarian media on January 28 2009 to be in an Iranian jail four months after he had disappeared without a trace, Goranov said that Bulgarian embassy in Iran was in constant contact with him.

"The conditions he is in are good to the extent that they could be in this situation," Goranov said.

"Our ambassador has informed Iranian authorities that he is planning to visit him this week one more time but they are still to approve it," he said. "February 10 is Iran's national holiday and we need to get the approval before that to avoid any delays. We need to do the visit to give courage to our national and to demonstrate to the Iranian authorities that Bulgaria is concerned about his fate," Goranov said.

"Our embassy has had consultations with other foreign embassies in Iran for hiring a lawyer to defend Roussev. We have found a lawyer who has a good reputation and has had experience in working on similar cases. Our goal is to offer the lawyer's services to Roussev and see whether he would agree to use them. This is what we intend to do at this stage," Goranov said.

Answering a question about who would pay for the lawyer's services, Goranov said that first he had to be hired and matters such his fee would be dealt with at a later stage.

"We have been in contact with Roussev's family and we have met all their demands" he said. "We are waiting for our embassy to send us a translation of Iran's penal code so that we can suggest a defense strategy," he noted.

"We know that Iranian authorities have charged Roussev with drug trafficking but we have not yet received a formal document stating the charges," Goranov said. "Iranian authorities have assured us that that we would informed for the start of the trial so that we would be prepared for the indictment which might happen within a year since it involves gathering evidence," he said.

"We don't see a necessity for sending Bulgarian deputy-foreign minister Milen Keremedchiev to Iran at this stage. First we need to hire a lawyer for Roussev".

As for the two Bulgarians arrested in Greece on February 1 2009 after police discovered 57kg of heroin hidden in their motor vehicle at the Greek-Turkish border, Goranov said that the Bulgarian consul in Thessaloniki has been ordered to visit them. "The first questioning of the duo will take place on February 4 2009," he said.