Speaking in Berlin before a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Rasmussen said: "First, let me stress that NATO as such is not a part in the international endeavours to put pressure on Iran right now."

"I do hope that we, through diplomatic and political pressure, are able to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability," he added.

If Tehran were to become nuclear armed, however, "it might of course eventually become NATO business as well, because then it is a question of protecting our territories and our populations against a potential threat."

"To that end, we are right now considering the possibility to establish missile defence which also covers Europe," the NATO boss said.

Talks with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme appeared to stall earlier Thursday as delegates from the UN atomic watchdog met in Vienna.

Expressing his "disappointment" at Iran, the outgoing head of the body, Mohamed ElBaradei, said that efforts to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear drive had reached a dead end.

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