Iran has warned member states of the European Union over their stance on the ongoing conflict.
The spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, said that European countries “will pay the price sooner or later if they remain silent about the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.” He made the statement in an interview with the Spanish broadcaster TVE, though he did not provide further details about what consequences he was referring to.
Baqaei also repeated Iran’s earlier denials regarding the ballistic missile that was intercepted by NATO air defense systems while heading toward the airspace of Turkey. According to Tehran, the missile was not launched by Iran.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated that Article 5 of NATO’s collective defense clause is not being considered following the incident.
Rutte described the situation as “serious,” but emphasized that “no one is talking about Article 5.”
Article 5 states that if a NATO member faces an armed attack, all other members of the Alliance consider it an attack against them and may take the necessary actions to assist the attacked ally.
