Iran Slams NATO Chief's Praise for US Strikes as 'Shameful'

Iran has condemned NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s remarks praising recent US airstrikes on its nuclear facilities, calling them “disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible.”

Rutte, in a message to US President Donald Trump ahead of a NATO summit, hailed the strikes as “decisive action,” calling them “truly extraordinary” and claiming they “make us safer.”

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei responded sharply, saying, “It is disgraceful, despicable and irresponsible for NATO’s Secretary General to congratulate such a criminal act of aggression against a sovereign state.”

“Anyone who supports a crime is complicit,” Baqaei added in a post on X.

The US airstrikes on Sunday targeted key Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz. These came just 10 days after a major Israeli bombardment that killed senior military officials and nuclear scientists.

Iran retaliated with waves of missile strikes before a ceasefire took effect on Tuesday.

Donald Trump claimed the US strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, stating they had set the programme back by “decades.”

However, leaked US intelligence reports suggest the actual damage may have delayed Iran’s nuclear programme by only a few months.

Iran has yet to disclose the full extent of the damage, though Baqaei said in an interview that the sites were “badly damaged.”