NATO chief Mark Rutte said today the alliance would do “what’s necessary to defend” its members, including Turkiye, after intercepting four missiles fired from Iran and heading into Turkish airspace over the past weeks.

A member of the U.S.-led defence alliance, Turkiye, which borders Iran, has been largely spared the sort of retaliation from Tehran suffered by countries in West Asia before the ceasefire.

NATO forces had shot down ballistic missiles fired from Iran four times, prompting the alliance to deploy a new Patriot missile battery at Incirlik air base in southern Turkiye.

“Iran is spreading terror and chaos, and you feel this prominently here in Turkiye,” Mr. Rutte told journalists on a visit to Turkiye’s largest defence electronics company, Aselsan.

“In recent weeks, NATO has successfully intercepted ballistic missiles heading to Turkiye from Iran on four separate occasions,” he said.

-AFP