US Attacks on Iran ‘Absolutely Necessary’, NATO Chief Says

The fresh U.S. attacks on Iran were “absolutely necessary,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on July 8.

Washington let rip a new bombardment against the Islamic Republic on July 7 and revoked a license permitting Tehran to sell oil after three tankers were hit by projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz.

“When you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire, I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react,” Rutte told reporters before a summit of NATO leaders in Ankara.

Rutte said there was no question about the “complete commitment of the United States to NATO,” but added that there is “also the expectation that the Europeans and the Canadians will equalize their spending with the United States, which I think is completely fair.”

“The good news is that this is the big win today. It’s the loss for Putin, it is a win for [U.S. President Donald] Trump that the Europeans and the Canadians are doing exactly that,” he said.

Following Rutte’s remarks to reporters, the secretary general held a bilateral meeting with Trump in Turkey, during which the American leader discussed the attack on Iran, calling the regime in Tehran “sick.”

“There’s something wrong with them,” Trump said, telling reporters that he had told Iran to go ahead with their funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a U.S. strike in the early days of the war, but that, instead, Iran started “shooting rockets at ships yesterday.”

“So we hit them very hard last night, very hard. I would say 20 to 1—20 times tougher,” he said.

“And I told them every time you hit, we hit, and of course they’re dirty players, so they go after everyone, probably including me. I’ve been number one on their list for years.”

The president complimented Rutte, calling him a “great secretary general,” but added that he “wasn’t happy with NATO” due to their attitude toward his ambition to annex Greenland and the fact that they were reluctant to help with the war against Iran.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said late Tuesday it launched a series of precision strikes against Iranian targets after Iran attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted 85 key U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait on Wednesday.

CENTCOM said the operation hit more than 80 Iranian targets as an “immediate response” to Iran’s “clear and dangerous violation of the ceasefire.”

Targets included Iran’s air defense systems, command and control networks, coastal radar sites, anti-ship missile capabilities, and more than 60 IRGC small boats in and near the strait “to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor.”

In addition, the United States revoked its authorization for Iran to sell oil after multiple tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, according to a U.S. official.

The official told The Epoch Times on Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the financial enforcement and sanctions arm of the agency, is revoking a license that allowed Tehran to produce, sell, and deliver oil under a memorandum of understanding that was signed by Iran and the United States in mid-June to end hostilities.

“The Office of Foreign Assets Control is revoking GL X, which authorized the sale of Iranian oil,” the official added. “As President Trump and the administration have repeatedly affirmed, the memorandum in effect with Iran is entirely performance-based.”

On Wednesday, Trump labeled the ceasefire with Iran effectively “over,” but said he would allow negotiations between Washington and Tehran to continue.

“For me, I think it’s over,” Trump responded when asked by reporters about the status of the ceasefire, which was extended when the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding last month to give a window for talks on a broader U.S.–Iran peace deal.

“It’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” Trump added, with his remarks coming on the sidelines of the two-day NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, just hours after U.S. forces struck Iranian targets in what the United States described as retaliation for attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters, Jack Phillips, Tom Gantert, and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.