U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, referring to Türkiye shooting down a missile launched from Iran and headed toward Türkiye, said, "An attack on Turkish territory is unacceptable."
According to the U.S. State Department on the 4th (local time), Minister Rubio spoke by phone with Türkiye Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that day, said this, and pledged full U.S. support.
Türkiye is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and shares a collective defense system with the United States.
That day, the Ministry of National Defense of Türkiye said in a statement that "a ballistic missile headed for Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was quickly shot down and neutralized by NATO air forces and air defense systems deployed in the eastern Mediterranean."
Debris from the interceptor missile fell in the Dortyol area of Hatay Province in southern Türkiye, and there were no casualties reported.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in a briefing the same day, mentioned the missile shootdown in Türkiye and noted it was not a situation that would trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty.
Article 5 of the NATO treaty provides that an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all member states, and that other members will provide assistance, including military action.
Elbridge Colby, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, said at a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) seminar that day, regarding the possibility of NATO countries joining military operations against Iran, "There is a possibility that something like a coalition could form based on a broad consensus that views Iran as a harmful threat."