Nato chief calls US war on Iran ‘absolutely essential’

Nato chief calls US war on Iran ‘absolutely essential’

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said that it was “absolutely essential for the United States to take on Iran” in an interview at the Euronews Defence and Space summit on Wednesday.

Only the US was “capable of taking out the nuclear capability of Iran”, Rutte said, describing the country's nuclear programme as a potential near-term threat “not only for Israel and the Middle East” but for Europe as well.

While conceding that the Iran war had its “downsides”, he added that extra defence investments will enable European countries to “take care of their backyard themselves”.

“It should be us taking care of the Houthis and the Red Sea”, rather than the US, Rutte said.