This is no longer a distant conflict. It is at Europe’s door. On March 4, everything escalated again — and this time it hit a NATO member state.
IRAN FIRES A BALLISTIC MISSILE TOWARD TURKEY
Wednesday March 4 2026, Iran fired a ballistic missile that travelled through the airspace of Iraq and Syria before heading directly toward Turkish territory. Al Jazeera and Stars and Stripes both reported that NATO air defence systems intercepted and destroyed the missile over the eastern Mediterranean. Debris fell in the Hatay province in southeastern Turkey.
Turkey is a NATO member state. This is the first time NATO has had to shoot down a missile targeting one of its own members since the United States and Israel began striking Iran on 28th February 2026.
Bloomberg reported that NATO spokesperson Allison Hart stated:
“We condemn Iran’s targeting of Türkiye. NATO stands firmly with all Allies, including Türkiye, as Iran continues its indiscriminate attacks across the region.”
The Kyiv Independent reported that since the conflict began, the United Arab Emirates alone has intercepted around 800 Iranian projectiles — and at least nine other countries have reported being targeted.
Nine countries. In one week.
And yet United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters there is “no sense” that the missile heading toward Turkey would trigger NATO’s Article 5 — the clause that says an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. The clause that is the entire foundation of the alliance. The clause Trump has already spent months undermining.
So let’s be clear about where we are right now:
The United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on February 28 — while peace negotiations were still ongoing
Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed in those strikes
Iran is now firing ballistic missiles at Gulf states, retaliating across the entire region
A missile has now been fired toward a NATO country — Turkey
Hundreds of drones have targeted Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
A United States submarine has sunk an Iranian warship
Americans are being evacuated from the Middle East as embassies close
Defence Secretary Hegseth has announced a second massive air assault on Iran is coming
And while all of this is happening — Trump is threatening to cut off trade with Spain for refusing to participate, and insulting the United Kingdom for not going far enough.
A PERSONAL WORD
When each of my children was born, I made them a promise. A quiet, private promise that I would do everything in my power to make sure they would never have to know what war truly means. Not as soldiers. Not as refugees. Not as the generation left to pick up the pieces of decisions made by people who will never face the consequences themselves.
It breaks my heart to write this today.
Because right now, I look at my grandchildren Julian and Adam and I feel that promise straining under the weight of what is happening in the world. Our children and grandchildren should be worrying about school, about friendships, about their futures. Instead, we are watching lunatic politicians play their dirty, greedy games with other people’s lives — and it is always the innocent who pay the price.
No family should have to bury a child for the ambitions of a man who has never known hunger, never known fear, and never known what it costs to actually lose someone to war.
We said NEVER AGAIN after World War Two. We built institutions, alliances, and rules specifically to make sure it could never happen again.
Those rules are being torn up. Right now. In real time.
I refuse to stay silent. And I hope you won’t either.
