MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. NATO will not become involved in the conflict over Iran at this time; there will be no major involvement of the alliance’s armed forces in the near future, Vladimir Sazhin, senior researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS in an interview.
"As of today, I think not," he said, answering a question about NATO's possible involvement in the conflict. Sazhin recalled that NATO leadership has stated its support for the actions of Israel and the United States against Iran. "However, I think there will be no large-scale involvement of NATO armed forces, at least in the near future," he added.
The expert drew attention to the positions of the alliance’s main members. "The question is that, for example, Great Britain is closest to the United States, and therefore — there was already information that the British allowed the Americans to use their bases — <...> the likelihood of engagement, or at least support, not full-scale engagement, but support [from] Great Britain is quite likely. But with regard to, for example, such key alliance countries as France and Germany, here, frankly, I have my reservations," he added.
On February 28, the US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran. The strikes targeted major Iranian cities, including Tehran. The White House justified the attack by citing missile and nuclear threats it said were emanating from Tehran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a large-scale retaliatory operation, striking targets inside Israel. US assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia also came under attack. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several other key figures of the Islamic republic’s leadership were killed.