NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte backs US strikes, warns on Iran threat

WASHINGTON: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte backed US actions against Iran, warning that Tehran is "very close" to developing missile capabilities that could threaten Europe, even as NATO assessed reports of a long-range strike on a US-UK base in the Indian Ocean. Speaking on CBS News' "Face the Nation," Rutte said NATO could not yet confirm claims that Iran had fired missiles at Diego Garcia, but stressed the implications if verified.

"We cannot confirm that at the moment, so we're looking into that," he said. "But if this would be true, it is the more evidence that what the President is doing here… is crucial."

He added that Iran was nearing the ability to strike major European cities. "What we know for sure is that they are very close to having that capability," he said, referring to the potential range of Iranian missiles.

Rutte warned that a combination of nuclear and missile capabilities in Iran would pose a global danger. "If Iran would have the nuclear capability, including, together with the missile capability, it will be a direct threat, an existential threat, to Israel, to the region, to Europe, to the stability in the world," he said. (IANS)

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