NATO said Wednesday it is ready to counter any threat after reports emerged that Iranian forces had assessed the possibility of striking U.S. military assets in southeastern Europe. "NATO is prepared to address any threat and will always do what is necessary to defend all Allies," a NATO official said in a written statement to Anadolu Agency.
The official pointed to this year's combat record as proof of that readiness. NATO air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles fired from Iran toward Turkey on four separate occasions in 2026. "As demonstrated earlier this year when NATO air defences successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Turkey from Iran on four separate occasions, our deterrence and defence posture is strong and effective," the official said.
Reports identified Bulgaria and Cyprus as the southeastern European countries Iranian planners had reportedly examined. Bulgaria approved the use of its Bezmer air base last month for U.S. aerial refueling operations. Iranian military officials have previously stated that any base used to launch attacks against Iranian territory could be treated as a legitimate strike objective.
Cyprus has also appeared in the reported assessments. A drone struck a British air base on the island in March, and the island's proximity to the eastern Mediterranean has made it a recurring point of concern in the current conflict. The British base at Akrotiri is one of the United Kingdom's two sovereign base areas on Cyprus, and U.S. aircraft have operated from the island during past Middle East operations.
President Trump said Tuesday there were "no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled" with Tehran. The June memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, signed with the aim of ending the war and opening a path toward a broader settlement, has broken down, with both sides accusing the other of violating its terms before hostilities resumed.
Negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz remain deadlocked. The waterway, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply transits, has been at the center of the standoff, and no framework for reopening it has emerged from the failed diplomatic rounds since June.
Bulgaria's decision last month to authorize Bezmer for American refueling missions placed it within the logic of Iranian military warnings that facilities used to launch attacks on Iranian infrastructure would be treated as fair targets. Bezmer, located in southern Bulgaria near Yambol, is one of the country's largest air bases and has hosted NATO exercises for years.
The four intercepted missiles over Turkey represent the most concrete test NATO air defense systems have faced from Iran in the current conflict. Turkey, a NATO member, operates a mix of domestic and allied air defense systems, and the alliance's integrated command structure coordinated the responses. None of the four intercept events resulted in reported casualties or infrastructure damage in Turkey.
Any Iranian action against a NATO member state on European soil would trigger the alliance's collective defense provisions under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, a threshold that would draw all 32 member states into the conflict.
There is no confirmed Iranian decision to carry out such strikes. The reports describe assessments and planning exercises, not an imminent attack order.
