US President Donald Trump told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday that NATO countries have "failed" the United States in the war with Iran.
This came during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House , who is visiting Washington in an attempt to contain the alliance's escalating tension with Trump ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8.
Trump expressed disappointment with Italy, Britain, Germany, France and Spain, saying it was "nice for them to offer our help in the Iran war," and claimed that his country did not need any help in its war on Iran in the first week.
"It would have been good for allies to show their willingness to help even if we didn't need it but they didn't," Trump said, noting that he had intended not to attend the NATO summit but reversed it.
NATO Secretary General defends NATO countries
For his part, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte defended the alliance's positions, saying that about 5,000 American planes took off from European bases during the weeks of the war, in addition to closing Bucharest airport to navigation for the take-off of American refueling planes.
Rutte said Trump's action against Iran was "very important" because it was close to acquiring nuclear capabilities and because it was exporting terrorism and chaos, he claimed.
Rutte pointed to the weakness in European and American defense production and the Ukraine war that had a significant impact on this, stressing the need for European countries to increase defense production and military industrialization, explaining that increasing military industrialization will be on the agenda of the next NATO summit.
"Trump will have 42 countries at the NATO summit in two weeks, including 9 countries in the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific," Rutte explained.
Iran's War and Defense Tunnels Stoke Tensions
Trump's relationship with NATO is witnessing unprecedented tension, which Western diplomats have described as the most dangerous in the alliance's history, after political and military differences escalated to a level where Trump publicly hinted at the possibility of the United States withdrawing or halting its defense commitments to allies. This escalation comes amid sharp disagreements over the war in Iran, the terms of defense spending, and the future of the U.S. military presence in Europe.
The most prominent causes of the crisis are centered on the deep dispute over the US-Israeli war against Iran, as Trump accuses European allies of "failing" for refusing to participate directly militarily or send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz, in addition to his resentment of the decisions of European countries such as Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom to prevent US military aircraft from using their airspace during operations.
In parallel, the Trump administration raised the ceiling of its defense demands through the 2026 strategy, which required allies to spend 3.5 percent of GDP on basic military operations, in addition to 1.5 percent on public security, to reach a total of 5 percent, an unprecedented level in the alliance's history.
Tensions have escalated with Trump calling NATO a "paper tiger" and threatening a full withdrawal as a result of his "disgust" with the behavior of allies, sparking a legal debate in Washington over the constitutionality of any presidential move to withdraw without congressional approval. While lawmakers seek legislation to restrict the president's ability to make unilateral decisions, the executive branch upholds its right to administer international treaties.
Despite the intensity of the differences, Trump announced his participation in the Ankara summit, stressing that his attendance comes "out of respect for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan" and hinting at the possibility of Turkey being allowed to buy F-35 jets again in recognition of its positions.
Iran calls for accountability of country complicit in Trump's war
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that it is a frank and blatant admission of NATO's actual complicity in an illegal war of aggression against a sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations.
He called for the organization and the member states that participated in these resolutions to be held accountable for all the consequences they entail , pointing out that the NATO secretary-general openly acknowledged the participation of Italy and Romania in the aggression against Iran.
The Iranian official continued that these two countries, along with every other European country that contributed to supporting the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, must provide an explanation to its people and the entire world that explains why it chose to be complicit in this blatant aggression and in the commission of mass atrocities against the Iranian people.
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