The North Atlantic Alliance has officially commented on the possibility of its direct involvement in the armed conflict in the Middle East. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made a resonant statement regarding the potential invocation of Article 5 of the organization's charter, which stipulates a collective response by all members of the bloc to an attack on an ally. Against the backdrop of the ongoing large-scale US military operation against Iran, the issue of involving European states and other alliance partners in the hot phase of the conflict has become a key issue on the international agenda. Rutte emphasized that NATO leadership is deliberately not disclosing the specific conditions and scenarios under which the collective defense mechanism would be activated, so as not to give the enemy an advantage in strategic planning.

According to the head of the alliance, NATO will always adhere to a policy of strategic ambiguity when invoking Article 5. This means that an adversary will not be given advance notice of "red lines," the crossing of which would immediately trigger the entry of all 32 NATO member states into war. The Secretary-General noted that such ambiguity is an important deterrent, as it forces the Iranian leadership to act under high-risk conditions. Nevertheless, Mark Rutte assured the international community that if a decision is made to engage NATO's collective forces, he will immediately inform the international community. This statement comes amid an unprecedented buildup of American forces in the region and intensified attacks on Iranian targets, making the threat of a global expansion of the conflict and the involvement of European armies more real than ever since the crisis began.