Jens Stoltenberg told the magazine Der Spiegel in comments published Saturday that Israel is a partner, but not a member and that NATO’s “security guarantee” doesn’t apply to Israel.
Stoltenberg says NATO isn’t involved in Mideast peace efforts or in conflicts in the region.
Israel has claimed to have hit Iranian military targets in Syria in recent weeks and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Tel Aviv would not allow Iran to establish any military bases in Syria.
The Islamic Republic says its role in Syria is limited to advisory assistance to the Syrian government, stressing that it does not have any military bases in the Arab country.
On April 9, an Israeli airstrike against the T-4 airbase in Syria’s Homs Province killed more than a dozen people, including seven Iranian military advisors.
Iran has pledged that it would punish Israel for the deadly air raid.
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on Saturday there is a link between Israel's stepped-up threats against Tehran and the defeat of Takfiri terrorists in Iraq and Syria, which has made Tel Aviv angry.
The Iranian official also said the time for "hit-and-run" by Israel is over, citing Syria's retaliatory rocket attacks on Israeli targets in the occupied Golan Heights last month.
