"Disgraceful, despicable, irresponsible": Iran slams NATO chief's remarks on US strikes

Iran on Wednesday strongly condemned NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's praise for US strikes on its nuclear sites, calling his remarks “disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible.”

Rutte had lauded US President Donald Trump’s decision to target Iranian nuclear facilities in a note shared ahead of the upcoming NATO summit. The message came days after Washington carried out what were described as unprecedented airstrikes on several key Iranian nuclear sites.

In his note, Rutte wrote, “It was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer,” referring to what he called Trump’s “decisive action” in Iran.

Responding to the comments, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said it was “disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible for #NATO’s SG to congratulate a ‘truly extraordinary’ criminal act of aggression against a sovereign State.”

“Whoever supports a crime is regarded as complicit,” Baqaei added in a post on X.

The US strikes on Sunday targeted the Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear sites, coming ten days after Israel launched its own extensive assault on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The Israeli attack on June 13 reportedly hit multiple nuclear facilities and resulted in the deaths of high-ranking military officers and nuclear scientists. Iran responded with waves of missile strikes before a ceasefire was reached on Tuesday.

Trump declared that the US strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities. He further claimed on Wednesday that the action had pushed back Iran’s atomic program by “decades.”

However, leaked US intelligence assessments suggest the damage may have been less extensive, estimating that the strikes delayed Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months.

Iranian authorities have yet to provide a full account of the destruction caused by the Israeli and American attacks. Still, in an interview with Al Jazeera English, Baqaei said the sites had been “badly damaged.”