NATO On Alert Over Iranian Threat To European Allies

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

SOFIA/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – NATO’s chief has sought to reassure Bulgaria of the military alliance’s support amid reports that Iran has weighed attacking American military targets in Europe if U.S. President Donald J. Trump orders renewed or expanded strikes against the Islamic Republic.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte personally confirmed the alliance’s “full support” during a telephone conversation with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, whose government has strengthened security around the Bezmer Air Base following the reported Iranian threat.

Rutte said NATO forces and defense capabilities in the region were ready to “respond to and neutralize any threat” against member states, according to Bulgaria’s Council of Ministers. He pointed to NATO’s recent interception of ballistic missiles heading toward Turkey as evidence of the alliance’s ability to protect its southeastern flank.

The Bulgarian government stressed that any attack on a NATO member would be treated as an attack against the alliance, with measures under the North Atlantic Treaty to follow.

IRAN WEIGHS EUROPEAN TARGETS

The unusually explicit reassurance followed a Financial Times report citing two people close to Iran’s regime as saying Iranian forces had assessed possible strikes against U.S. assets in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria, if Washington escalates its military campaign against Tehran.

Bulgaria emerged as a potential target after parliament approved the deployment of up to eight U.S. Air Force KC-135 aerial-refueling aircraft and as many as 250 American military personnel at Bezmer to support U.S. operations in the Middle East.

The U.S. tanker aircraft left Bezmer and departed Bulgaria on Friday, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said. Their deployment had originally been authorized to continue through October 1.

Radev has stressed that Bulgaria would not be used to launch combat operations against Iran, saying the U.S. aircraft were deployed solely for logistical missions involving aerial refueling outside Bulgarian airspace.

TEHRAN HARDENS POSITION

Cyprus, where a British military base was struck by a drone in March, has also been considered as a possible target for Iranian retaliation in the event of renewed U.S. attacks, according to the Financial Times. Iranian forces have separately examined targeting subsea fiber-optic cables in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz if the conflict escalates.

The reported contingency planning comes amid an increasingly defiant mood in Tehran as diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled and Iranian military commanders warn that another major confrontation could spread beyond the Middle East.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that foreign military facilities used to attack Iranian territory would be regarded as legitimate targets. Iranian insiders cited by the Financial Times suggested Tehran’s response would depend on the scale of any renewed American offensive.

Iran has also expanded and improved its missile arsenal over the past decade, developing longer-range and more maneuverable weapons capable of threatening targets increasingly far from its borders.

MISSILE CAPABILITIES

Among them are the solid-fueled Haji Qassem and Fattah-1 missiles, with reported ranges of about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles), and the Emad, which can reach roughly 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles). The liquid-fueled Khorramshahr family has an estimated range exceeding 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles), potentially placing parts of southeastern Europe within reach.

The shorter-range Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 can travel roughly 300 and 500 kilometers (186 and 311 miles), respectively, while the Shahab-3 has a reported range of about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).

The Fattah-1, one of Iran’s most advanced missiles, has a maneuverable warhead and was used in Iranian strikes against Israel in 2024. The Haji Qassem, named after Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in 2020, is also solid-fueled and designed for greater accuracy.

Military analysts cautioned, however, that Iran’s ability to conduct effective missile attacks deep inside Europe remains limited. Missile range and payload are closely connected, with heavier warheads generally reducing the distance a weapon can travel, while accuracy also becomes more challenging at greater distances.

BULGARIA TIGHTENS SECURITY

Iran could therefore be more likely to rely on drones, sabotage or allied armed groups to strike Western interests farther from its borders, analysts said.

Bulgarian authorities increased protection at Bezmer beyond the threat level indicated by intelligence assessments after reports emerged about the Iranian contingency planning.

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said Friday that intelligence services continued monitoring information about a possible Iranian threat and that all necessary measures had been taken. He said Bulgaria was also using available options with NATO partners to strengthen its defenses.

Defense Minister Stoyanov has sought to calm fears, saying Bulgarian intelligence had found no direct threat to the country’s national security.

WIDER NATO CONCERNS

Greece has reportedly indicated that it could help defend Bulgarian airspace if necessary, including potentially deploying a Patriot air-defense system should Sofia request assistance.

Iran has already demonstrated an ability and willingness to attempt attacks far beyond its immediate neighborhood. During the conflict, Tehran fired missiles toward the joint U.S.-British military facility on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, although they failed to reach their target.

Turkey also said NATO air defenses intercepted several Iranian ballistic missiles in March, while Western officials suspected an Iran-linked proxy force was responsible for the drone strike against Britain’s Akrotiri base in Cyprus.

The prospect of attacks in Europe would mark a potentially dangerous expansion of the Middle East conflict and could directly involve NATO if Iranian forces targeted territory belonging to one of its 32 members.

Publicly, authorities in Bulgaria stressed that the reported Iranian planning does not mean Tehran has decided to attack the country.

Rutte’s intervention suggested, however, that NATO is treating the possibility seriously, warning Tehran that any strike against Bulgaria or another alliance member could transform a widening Middle East armed conflict into a confrontation with the world’s largest military alliance.

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

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