NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Sunday that NATO members, along with allies such as South Korea and Japan, are preparing a joint response to reopen navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blockaded.
In an interview with Fox News, Rutte said a group of 22 countries had come together since Thursday. While most are NATO members, the group also includes “South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the UAE and Bahrain,” he said, adding that they had gathered “to implement (US President Donald Trump’s) vision” for a free and open Strait of Hormuz.
“We are determining what is needed, when it is needed and how to carry it out together,” Rutte said. “As soon as the time is right, we will proceed.”
In a separate interview with CBS, Rutte said participating countries are working to answer three key questions: “What do we need? When do we need it? And where do we need it?”
His remarks suggest that NATO has been coordinating or exchanging views with South Korea, Japan and partners in Europe and the Middle East in response to US calls for action.
Trump last week criticized NATO’s response to Iran as passive, saying, “Without the United States, NATO is a paper tiger,” and that “they didn’t want to join the fight to stop a nuclear-armed Iran.” He also said NATO’s participation in operations in the Strait of Hormuz would be “very easy for them with almost no risk. Cowards,” adding, “And we will remember.”
Rutte said he had spoken with Trump several times in recent days and argued that, as seen in the case of North Korea, the United States had little choice but to abandon nuclear negotiations with Iran and carry out a preemptive strike “to make the world safe.”
“As we saw in the case of North Korea, if you negotiate for too long, you might miss the point where you can still solve it. North Korea now has that nuclear capability,” he said in the CBS interview. He warned that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons alongside its missile capabilities, it would pose “a direct and existential threat to the stability of Israel, the region, Europe and the world.” (From news reports)
milaya@heraldcorp.com
