NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has assessed that Iran is “very close” to reaching European cities with its missiles, a statement that comes after the regime’s surprising attack on Diego Garcia island last week.
Iran launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia on Friday. While both did not hit the island, the strike raised concerns that Iran’s missile range is potentially far greater than was previously thought, given Diego Garcia is well over 2,000 miles away from Iran.
“What we know for sure is that they are very close to having that capability,” Rutte said on Sunday when asked by Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan whether Iran could hit cities like Berlin, Paris, and Rome.
The NATO chief added that Europe is “still assessing” the Diego Garcia strike, but if it’s “true” it means Iran can already reach those cities.
“And that is exactly why I feel in Europe, that most politicians, it resonates with them what the president is doing here, which is taking out — degrading Iran’s capability to be, again, an exporter of chaos, sheer chaos to the region, to the world,” Rutte said.
While that threat is still being assessed, Rutte is also looking closer to the immediate region for the war, specifically the Strait of Hormuz.
Recently, he has been trying to shore up support for President Donald Trump’s coalition effort to secure the strait, which has been under a de facto blockade from Iran.
That effort has seen very tepid backing, though 22 countries have signed onto a statement expressing their willingness to help reopen the key waterway.
Rutte projected confidence on Sunday that Europe will be behind it, saying NATO countries are “coming together” on the coalition.
But Trump also appears poised to take matters into his own hands.
PAHLAVI URGES TRUMP TO BACK OFF THREAT AGAINST IRAN’S POWER PLANTS
On Saturday night, he threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it did not reopen Hormuz in 48 hours. Barring any action before then, that deadline would expire at around 8 p.m. Eastern time on Monday.
If it occurs, such a strike would amount to a serious escalation and would push some European allies further away from getting involved in the hostilities.
