Iran calls NATO chief remarks on US strikes 'disgraceful'

Iran on Wednesday (25 June) condemned NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's remarks praising US strikes on its nuclear facilities, calling them "disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible."

The criticism came after Rutte, in a pre-NATO summit note to former US President Donald Trump, applauded what he described as Trump's "decisive action" in Iran, reports AFP.

The note, written Tuesday, hailed the recent American strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites.

Rutte wrote that the move "was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer."

Responding to the comments, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei lashed out on social media platform X. "It was 'disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible for #NATO's SG to congratulate a 'truly extraordinary' criminal act of aggression against a sovereign State,'" Baqaei stated. He added, "Whoever supports a crime is regarded as complicit."

The United States conducted strikes on Sunday targeting key nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz — just ten days after a major Israeli assault on Iran.

On 13 June, Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear infrastructure that killed several top military commanders and nuclear scientists, according to Iranian sources.

In response, Iran launched multiple waves of missile strikes before a ceasefire took effect on Tuesday.

Former President Trump, speaking on Wednesday, claimed that the US strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities, insisting the attacks had set Tehran's atomic program back "decades."

However, leaked US intelligence reports contradicted that claim, suggesting the strikes had only delayed Iran's nuclear efforts by a few months.

Iranian authorities have yet to provide detailed assessments of the actual damage inflicted on the targeted nuclear sites.