By Andrew Gray
BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO does not plan to trigger its Article 5 mutual defence clause over the shooting down of a ballistic missile headed for Turkey, Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday, amid fears the alliance could become embroiled in the U.S.-Iran war.
"Nobody's talking about Article 5," Rutte said in an interview at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, even as he described the incident as 'serious'.
"The most important thing is that our adversaries have seen yesterday that NATO is so strong and so vigilant," he said.
NATO member Turkey said the alliance's air defences on Wednesday destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile as it headed into Turkish airspace, highlighting the possibility that the conflict could expand to include the entire alliance.
NATO's Article 5 specifies that an attack on one of its members is an attack on all of them. It obliges allies to take action they deem necessary to assist the country under attack, including potentially the use of military force.
The Iranian Armed Forces General Staff on Thursday denied it had fired missiles at Turkey, saying the Islamic Republic respected the sovereignty of "friendly" Turkey, according to a statement carried by Iranian media.
As the U.S.–Iran war entered its sixth day, the conflict has widened beyond Gulf states and into Asia, convulsing global markets and prompting thousands of stranded tourists and residents to try to flee the Middle East.
RUTTE CITES BROAD NATO SUPPORT FOR US ACTION DESPITE EUROPEAN CRITICISM
Rutte said many NATO allies support the United States and Israel in their strikes against Iran as the country was "close to becoming a threat to Europe as well".
However, several leaders of NATO countries such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan have criticised the military action, branding it a dangerous violation of international law.
Asked if he was sure the U.S. had a clear end-state in mind to avoid instability that could pose risks for Europe, Rutte said: "From my conversations with senior American military and political leaders, it's my absolute sense that they know where they are going."
He also said NATO leaders had agreed that they would have to find ways to continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion even as Middle Eastern nations urgently seek to boost their arsenals, particularly with air defence weapons.
Asked how this would be possible given air defence support for Ukraine was already in short supply, Rutte said industry would have to ramp up production of such weapons, just as it had done in recent years with artillery ammunition.
"We have to replicate what we are doing with ammunition when it comes to the other big-ticket items," he said.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Writing by Inti Landauro and Sabine Siebold; Editing by Makini Brice, Richard Lough, William Maclean)
