Trump's campaign against Iran has broad allied support, NATO chief says

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said there is broad support across the alliance for US President Donald Trump's campaign targeting Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities.

Source: Rutte in an interview with Newsmax, a US news media organisation, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Rutte said NATO as an organisation does not take part in the US mission in Iran.

Quote: "But obviously allies are basically, on a massive scale, supportive of what the president is doing and are also enabling what the US is doing now in the region, taking out this nuclear capability of Iran and, of course, the missile capability."

More details: Rutte said European allies have serious security concerns linked to threats and alleged assassination plots connected to Iran's regime.

Quote: "Here in Europe, we know the impact of Iran and the negative impact they can have. Look at the assassination attempts in many NATO countries here in Europe, the Iranian diaspora. My own country [the Netherlands] is under constant threat from the regime in Tehran."

More details: Rutte also said NATO countries are providing "key enabling assistance" to the US-Israeli campaign against Iran. He said NATO forces remain prepared to defend alliance territory as tensions escalate in the region.

He pointed to a recent incident involving a missile threat to Türkiye.

Quote: "You saw that this morning [4 March] when news came in of a missile which was heading for Türkiye and potentially impacting on US interests in Türkiye, taken out by NATO anti-missile systems. So, this is working. We are vigilant."

More details: Rutte also addressed questions about NATO's Article 5 mutual defence clause.

Quote: "For good reasons, we always will stay very ambiguous about when Article 5 is triggered. We keep it very ambiguous because we don't want to make our enemies, our adversaries, any wiser."

Background:

• Rutte earlier described Iran as one of the key factors enabling Russia's aggression against Ukraine, saying that increased pressure from Israel and the US will reduce Tehran's capacity to contribute to the war.
• On 2 March, Greece announced that it will send two frigates and four F-16 fighter jets to Cyprus to bolster air defence and show solidarity.
• On 4 March, Greek F-16s were scrambled over Cyprus after reports of a suspicious object in airspace near Lebanon.
• France also announced that it will send support to help defend Cyprus. Paris plans to deploy a frigate and additional missile systems to the eastern Mediterranean.

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