2026-07-08T06:48:09+00:00
Shafaq News- Ankara
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday defended the
latest US strikes on Iran as “very necessary,” stressing that the
Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments, must remain fully
open.
Speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara, Rutte accused Tehran
of violating the recently signed US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding and backed
Washington’s position on Iran’s nuclear file, reiterating that Tehran
“should never get its hands on a nuclear capability.”
Addressing US concerns over the positions taken by some
NATO allies, including the refusal of some countries to join the Iran war,
Rutte noted that Washington’s disappointment was limited to “individual
cases.”
United States Central Command (CENTCOM) reported earlier on
Wednesday a series of “powerful” strikes against 80 targets in Iran
in response to “attacks on three commercial vessels transiting
Hormuz.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) retaliated
by targeting US military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain with ballistic
missiles and drones, while also downing a US MQ-9 drone over Bushehr Province.
The IRGC stated that the operation targeted 85 military facilities at Ali Al
Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the US United States Fifth Fleet headquarters in
Bahrain.
