A public dispute has erupted between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte over the nature of Italy’s role in the U.S.-led conflict against Iran, opening a new rift in already strained transatlantic relations amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Speaking to Fox News this Thursday, Rutte pushed back against recent criticisms from U.S. President Donald Trump, who had accused multiple European Union allies of refusing to back the U.S.-Israeli military campaign codenamed Epic Fury. The NATO chief claimed that a large number of allied nations had opened their military bases to support the operation, estimating that between 4,000 and 5,000 aircraft had departed from European bases for strike missions. Specifically, he highlighted that 500 U.S. warplanes had taken off from U.S. bases hosted on Italian territory to support Epic Fury, calling the level of European involvement “massive.”
Meloni, who is already facing intense backlash from domestic political opponents over accusations that she has hidden the true extent of Italy’s involvement in the conflict from the public, swiftly rejected Rutte’s framing during a Franco-Italian summit held in southern France. She dismissed the NATO chief’s comments as an oversimplified and overly enthusiastic misrepresentation that blurred key distinctions between different categories of authorized flight activity. The Italian leader stressed that Rome had not taken part in active combat operations against Iran, noting that Rutte’s account directly contradicted Trump’s repeated public complaints that European allies have failed to contribute sufficiently to the conflict. “If we had participated in the Iran conflict, there would be no explanation for this disappointment that the US president keeps reiterating very often,” Meloni told reporters. She clarified that Italian bases were only used for logistical support activities, not for offensive combat sorties.
The disagreement comes against a backdrop of growing friction between Rome and Washington, sparked by a series of hostile comments from Trump targeting Italy and its leadership. Just weeks before the NATO chief’s remarks, Trump drew fierce condemnation from Italian officials after he falsely claimed Meloni had “begged” him for a photo during a side meeting at the G7 summit. Meloni hit back at the accusation on social media, saying she could not understand why the U.S. president repeatedly takes such aggressive stances against his own allies. She added that it was disappointing that Trump shows far more leniency toward the leaders of Western and American adversaries than he does to close partners like Italy. In response to Trump’s “serious and offensive words,” Italy’s foreign minister also announced he would scrap a planned official trip to Washington, further escalating the diplomatic row.
Iran has also weighed in on the dispute, with Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi pointing to international law to back a critical stance. In a post on the social platform X, Gharibabadi noted that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 clearly defines the act of a state permitting its territory to be used by a third country to launch attacks on another sovereign nation as a form of aggression.
This report was originally published by Middle East Eye, an outlet that provides independent, in-depth coverage of the Middle East, North Africa and surrounding regions.