He NATO Secretary General Mark Ruttestated this Thursday that the president of the United States, Donald Trump did not inform allies that he was going to attack Iran because he wanted to “keep the campaign secret” and because of the risk of leaks.
“What I have seen (from Trump) is some frustration that Europeans took time to react to his request”Rutte said, alluding to Trump’s call for allies to provide help to ensure that sea lanes remain open during the operation against Iran.
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Trump today attacked NATO countriesensuring that he will never forget that they did not intervene in the war in Iran, and issued a new ultimatum to Iran’s negotiators to “get serious soon” before “it’s too late”.
This message comes after, following the refusal to join his offensive to open the Strait of Hormuz, the president called on NATO countries “cowards”point out that they have made “a very stupid mistake” and say that they do not need “anyone’s help.”
In a press conference aimed at presenting the Alliance’s 2025 annual report, Rutte justified that the United States did not consult its allies before launching the offensive against Tehran “for compelling reasons, to make sure that no one knew what would happen that Saturday morning”as he said.
However, he added that this “also has the drawback that it takes time for Europeans to organize.”
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Rutte stressed that “The United States, for compelling reasons, could not inform its allies “What was going to happen three and a half weeks ago, on Saturday, because that could have caused a leak or something like that.”.
“That risk always exists when US has chance to eliminate Iranian leaders. So I understand it perfectly. I don’t criticize it, but that means that Europe takes a while to agree, and that carries a risk.”he emphasized.
However, Rutte highlighted that following the initiative of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands, there are already “more than 30 countries that have committed to meeting to discuss the details – what, where and when – in order to ensure that the sea routes remain open.”
“And this responds exactly to President Trump’s request and, more generally, as it relates to the Middle East.”he added.
As regards Iran, Rutte said that NATO remains firm that the Persian country does not achieve nuclear or missile capabilities.
He recalled that the Alliance “has recognized the threat that Iran’s missile program poses to allies and their interests”.
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“What the United States is currently doing is reducing those capabilities, both nuclear and missile capabilities. Take as an example what happened at the British and American base of Diego García, which was the target of a missile capable of reaching 4,000 kilometers,” he said.
For this reason, he considered that “the logical conclusion of this missile launch is that Iran now has increasingly dangerous capabilities for its allies.”
NATO stands firm with all its allies. As you know, we have successfully intercepted ballistic missiles launched from Iran on three separate occasions.
