The Spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, stated that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) engaged in "active complicity" in the war launched by the United States and "Israel" against Iran. He considered the statements made by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte to be a "clear admission" of the participation of alliance member states in the military operation.

Baghaei’s remarks came in response to what NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told Fox News regarding the use of American bases in Europe during the war. Rutte pointed out that hundreds of U.S. aircraft took off from bases in Italy, and that Bucharest airport reduced the number of its commercial flights to make way for refueling aircraft, confirming that between 4,000 and 5,000 American planes took off from European bases during the military operations.

In a post on the "X" platform, Baghaei said that Rutte's statements constitute a "damning admission of NATO's active complicity in an illegal war of aggression launched against a sovereign nation that is a member of the United Nations."

He added that Rutte "explicitly referred to Italy and Romania as having participated in the aggression against Iran," calling on these two countries and other European nations that provided support for the U.S.-Israeli aggression to clarify the reasons for this support to their peoples and to the international community.

For its part, the Italian Ministry of Defense denied what was stated in Rutte's remarks, asserting that Rome did not permit the United States to use its bases for combat missions. The ministry emphasized that "approval was limited to technical and logistical flights," describing the NATO Secretary-General's statements as "completely misleading."