Afrasianet - As U.S. President Donald Trump reiterates his accusation that NATO countries failed his country during their war on Iran, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirms that about 5,000 U.S. planes took off from European bases during the weeks of the war.
During his meeting with Rutte at the White House, Trump explained that NATO countries did not provide enough support to his country and that the United States had "let down" its allies, adding: "We didn't need help with this at all, and we literally crushed Iran in the first week, but it was good that the allies offered their support."
Trump expressed his disappointment in certain countries, saying, "I was disappointed in Italy, Britain , Germany, France and Spain, and it was nice that they offered to help us in the Iran war."
Trump said he had not received any concrete support from Europe in this file, noting that the United States did not actually need any military support, but considered that the allies' willingness to help was politically important, even if that assistance was not used.
On the other hand, Trump indicated that he intended not to attend the NATO summit in Ankara, before later deciding to participate in it.
This is not the first time Trump has attacked NATO, once described as a "paper tiger" and said he had done "little" to help the United States in its war against Iran.
Ruta: We contributed to Iran's war
But NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte noted that European bases played an important role in supporting U.S. operations during the war with Iran, stressing that thousands of planes took off from European territory during the period of fighting.
"About 5,000 U.S. planes took off from European bases during the weeks of the war," Rutte said, adding that Bucharest airport was temporarily closed to air traffic to facilitate the take-off of U.S. refueling planes.
In his assessment of the war, Rutte considered that President Trump's war on Iran was "very important," explaining that Tehran was "close to acquiring nuclear capabilities," along with its role in "exporting terrorism and chaos," as he put it.
He added that Iran could have posed a major threat to the region and the world, stressing that US moves contributed to containing this danger.
The NATO secretary-general also acknowledged that there are challenges in defense capabilities, saying that there is a "weakness in European and American defense production," and that the war in Ukraine has had a significant impact on this situation.
Rutte stressed the need to increase military production in Europe, pointing out that this file will be among the priorities of the upcoming NATO summit.
He also noted that the upcoming summit, which will be held in two weeks, will see the participation of 42 countries, including 9 countries from the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region, as part of expanding cooperation and security partnerships.
U.S. President Donald Trump did not seem to like these facts, as he indicated that he would not forget the stance of European and other NATO member states, including refusing to help him in the war he launched against Iran earlier this year.
Trump will not miss an opportunity to criticize NATO members for that stance, as he expressed anger at the announcement by U.S. allies that they refused to help him in the war.
Trump told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that he was "disappointed" by the alliance's members who did not support his war against Iran.
"They let us down, we didn't need help with this at all, we literally destroyed (Iran) in the first week. But maybe it would have been better if they had said, 'We'd like to help.'"
Iranian Foreign Ministry: NATO has acknowledged "complicity" in the war on us and must be held accountable
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday that NATO had admitted "complicity" in the US-Israeli war on his country, considering it a violation of international law.
Baqaei stressed that NATO and all participants in the war on Iran must be held accountable, following statements made by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, in which he revealed the alliance's contributions to the war.
Unveiling NATO's contributions
Rutte told Fox News that "500 U.S. planes took off from U.S. bases in Italy" to support the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran as the war began on Feb. 28.
The NATO secretary-general also revealed that Bucharest airport had reduced the number of commercial flights to make way for refueling planes used in the war, and that between 4,000 and 5,000 U.S. planes took off from bases in Europe during the war.
"This is a clear and unequivocal acknowledgment of NATO's active complicity in an illegal war of aggression waged against a sovereign member state of the United Nations," Baqaei wrote on his account on the X platform.
He pointed out that Rutte "explicitly referred to Italy and Romania as participating in the aggression against Iran."
He said that these two countries, and all other European countries that have participated in the war against Iran, must explain to their people and to the entire world "why they have chosen to be complicit in committing mass atrocities against the Iranian people."
The Italian Defense Ministry denounced Rutte's remarks as "completely misleading" and asserted that Rome had only allowed the United States to use its bases for technical and logistical flights and not for combat missions.
Trump's criticism of NATO comes just two weeks before the leaders of the alliance's 32 member states are scheduled to meet at a summit to be held on July 7-8 in the Turkish capital Ankara.
