Marco Rubio calls out NATO over Iran war inaction during Italy visit

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called out certain European countries that did not help the U.S. in its war against Iran on Tuesday. His comments came during his state visit to Italy, another important NATO member, where he met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Rubio singled out Spain as he criticized the decision of certain countries not to allow the U.S. to access their bases to help with its war in Iran.

Rubio said that one of the biggest advantages of being in NATO for the U.S. was that it granted the ability for the U.S. military to project power in case of contingencies in the region. The Iran war was one such contingency. "Some countries in Europe, like Spain, as an example, denied us the use of those bases for a very important contingency, that in some ways, the denial of those bases actually impeded the mission," Rubio said.

Secretary Rubio added that the denial of those bases somewhat impeded the war effort and created "unnecessary dangers." "If one of the main reasons why the U.S. is in NATO is the ability to have forces deployed in Europe that we could project to other contingencies, and now that's no longer the case, at least when it comes to some NATO members, that's a problem and has to be examined," Rubio said.

Since the start of the Iran conflict in February, Spain had strongly condemned the war and denied access to two U.S. bases: Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base. It even closed its airspace to the U.S. military, as per The Guardian. Rubio visited Italy to meet with Pope Leo XIV and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Relations between Rome and Washington are frosty, as Italy, too, had denied access to the U.S. to one of its bases in Sicily.

Trump and Meloni also sparred over the former's comments about the Pope earlier this year. The U.S. President said that the Pope was weak on crime, while the Italian Prime Minister said that the comments were unacceptable. "It's she who's unacceptable, because she doesn't care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance," Trump said in his response to Meloni's statement.

Repairing relations between the two nations was an important agenda item of Rubio's visit to Italy. He shared a picture of himself with the Italian Prime Minister on X, and claimed that he was there to "reinforce the enduring U.S.-Italy strategic partnership." He also met with the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani. 

"With Secretary Rubio, we confirmed the centrality of the transatlantic bond and our shared willingness to work together for peace, growth, and international stability. I reiterated Italy's full support for diplomacy as the only path to avoid further escalation in the Middle East and ensure the freedom of international navigation," he wrote in a post on X.