NATO chief: Iran was close to becoming threat to Europe

The shooting down of a ballistic missile headed for Türkiye by NATO ​air defences does not provide immediate reason to trigger ‌the alliance's Article 5 mutual defence clause, its Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday, Report informs.

"Nobody's talking about Article 5," Rutte ​said.

"The most important thing is that our adversaries have ​seen yesterday that NATO is so strong and ⁠so vigilant, and even more vigilant, if possible, since ​Saturday."

Türkiye said NATO air defences destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile as it headed into ​Turkish airspace, marking the first time the alliance member has been drawn into the Middle East conflict and raising the possibility of an expansion ​involving its bloc allies.

The Iranian Armed Forces General Staff ​on Thursday denied it had fired missiles at Türkiye, saying the Islamic ‌Republic ⁠respected the sovereignty of "friendly" Türkiye, according to a statement carried by Iranian media.

NATO's alliance's Article 5 specifies that an attack on one of the alliance's members is an attack on ​all the ​others.

Rutte said NATO ⁠supports the United States in its strikes against Iran as the country was "close to ​becoming a threat to Europe as well."