Italy's Meloni rejects Rutte claims of ‘massive’ Italian support for Iran war
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Fri, 06/26/2026 - 12:15
Nato's secretary general said '500 US planes' had taken off from Italian bases during the US-Israeli war on Iran
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Chigi Palace, in Rome, Italy, 7 May 2026 (Reuters/Remo Casilli)
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Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has rejected comments by Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte that Rome allowed US aircraft to use Italian air bases during the war on Iran.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Rutte pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s statements that several EU allies had failed to support the US-Israeli assault, saying Italy had allowed “500 US planes” to take off from Italian bases.
“Country after country, ally after ally after ally have made their bases available for Epic Fury,” Rutte said, suggesting that some 4,000 to 5000 planes had taken off from European bases during the war.
“If you look at Italy, 500 US planes took off from US bases in Italy to support Epic Fury,” he said.
“This is massive.”
Meloni, who is facing accusations from political opponents that she misled the public, rejected Rutte’s comments on Thursday as an “oversimplified account”, insisting that Italian bases were used only for logistical operations.
"In his - let's call it enthusiastic - account, the secretary general has lumped together things that are actually quite different from one another, confusing the types of authorised flights," Meloni told reporters during a Franco-Italian summit in southern France.
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"We did not participate in the conflict with Iran. By the way, if we had participated in the Iran conflict, there would be no explanation for this disappointment that the US president keeps reiterating very often," she said.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, noted in a post on X that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 stipulates that states permitting their territory to be used by third states to launch attacks on another country constitutes a form of aggression.
Rutte's comments came amid simmering tensions between Rome and Washington, after Trump singled out Italy as one of several EU allies that he said had failed to support the war on Iran.
On 19 June, Meloni lashed out at Trump on social media after he said she had “begged” him for a photo on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
“I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies; it is not the first time. I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence.”
Italy’s foreign minister announced on X that he had cancelled a planned trip to Washington over Trump’s “serious and offensive words”.
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