Rutte Backs US-Israel Strikes on Iran, No NATO Role

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed strong support on Monday for recent U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iranian targets, describing the operations as vital to curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile development, while emphasizing that the alliance would not participate directly.

Speaking in Brussels, Rutte highlighted the joint campaign's role in degrading Iran's military capabilities. "It's really important what the U.S. is doing here, together with Israel, because it is taking out, degrading the capacity of Iran to get its hands on nuclear capability, the ballistic missile capability," he said. The strikes, known as Operation Epic Fury, targeted key Iranian facilities over the weekend, according to alliance officials. Rutte made clear that NATO had no intention of becoming involved as an entity. "There are absolutely no plans whatever for NATO to get dragged into this or being part of it, other than individual allies doing what they can to enable what the Americans are doing together with Israel," he added.

Rutte's comments came amid escalating tensions in the region, following Iran's launch of missiles toward military and civilian sites in...