NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said European allies have positioned military assets near the Strait to support operations such as demining if required.
He also credited Trump with strengthening NATO, improving US security and driving a sharp increase in defence investment among alliance members.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday rejected claims that Italian airbases were actively used by the United States for airstrikes on Iran, insisting that Italy’s involvement was limited to technical and logistical assistance.
Speaking during a Franco-Italian summit in France, Meloni said Italy had never participated in the conflict between the US and Iran, according to Politico. She also criticised NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, saying he had made "misleading remarks" about Italy’s role.
Rutte, in an interview with Fox News late Tuesday, had suggested that Italy played a significant part in the US campaign against Iran by permitting around 500 US aircraft to support Operation ‘Epic Fury’ through strikes on Iranian targets.
Rutte said European allies were already positioning military assets near the Strait to support regional operations if required.
"You see now massive European allies pre-positioning their assets close to the Strait so to be able to help, for example, when it comes to demining," Rutte said.
The NATO chief also expressed strong support for US President Donald Trump’s approach towards Iran, saying he was "completely behind" the strategy pursued by Washington.
Rutte further credited Trump with strengthening the alliance, enhancing US security and pushing member states to increase defence spending.
"When you look at the numbers of the investments NATO countries are now making in their own defense, it is staggering," the NATO secretary general said, as per Fox News.
Following Meloni’s remarks, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani held a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to reiterate Rome’s position.
In a post on X, Tajani wrote: “Italy has never taken part in any military action against Iran and never authorised the use of its airbases against strike on them.”
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto also challenged Rutte’s claims, particularly regarding the scale of US air activity through Italy.
In a post on X, Crosetto said: “The number of flights in transit at Sigonella and Aviano during the Epic Fury period was far lower than the number of flights in transit in the years 2019-2025.”
Italy hosts around 120 US military facilities, including the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily and Aviano air base in northern Italy, as per Reuters.
After Reuters sought clarification, a NATO official said Rutte had only "highlighted how Allies including Italy carried out their existing bilateral agreements in the context of basing and overflights."
Iran, however, sharply criticised the remarks.
Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Rutte’s comments suggesting US use of Italian and Romanian airbases raised questions of international legal responsibility.
Posting on X, he said:
“According to General Assembly Resolution 3314, the provision of territory by a state for use by a third state to carry out aggression against another country is considered an act of aggression.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei also accused NATO of involvement, saying Italy and Romania had been explicitly identified by the alliance chief as participants in the operation.
He wrote:
“This is a clear and damning admission of NATO’s active complicity in an unlawful war of aggression against a sovereign UN Member State — a flagrant violation of peremptory norms of international law and the core principles of the UN Charter. The Organization and its individual…”
According to Reuters, Italy had previously taken a restrictive approach. On April 7, 2026, Rome denied permission for a US military aircraft travelling to the Middle East to land at Sigonella air base in Sicily. Earlier, on March 31, Italy had also blocked planned landings by some US bombers that were scheduled to transit through the base before continuing onward.
