'Suffered a heatstroke': Italy rebuts Nato chief Rutte's claim on US flights supporting Iran strikes

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

46% : Italy on Wednesday pushed back against comments by Nato secretary general Mark Rutte that hundreds of US aircraft had taken off from American bases in Italy to support military operations against Iran, insisting that Rome authorised only technical and logistical flights and not direct combat-related activities.The dispute erupted after Rutte told Fox News that around 500 US aircraft had departed from American bases in Italy to support "Operation Epic Fury", the name given by Washington to its military campaign conducted alongside Israel against Iran.His remarks triggered a political storm in Italy, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government has repeatedly maintained that it did not authorise the use of Italian territory for direct military action against Iran.In a statement, Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said the government acted in full compliance with the country's constitution, international treaties and agreements governing allied military bases."As already clarified in parliament, the government authorised exclusively technical and logistical, non-kinetic activities," Crosetto said, according to Reuters.He added that Italy had refused requests that went beyond those limits.Crosetto also criticised Rutte's comments, saying the Nato chief had conveyed a "totally misleading message" by confusing authorised support flights with combat operations.Italy hosts around 120 US military facilities, including the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily and Aviano Air Base in northern Italy.Responding to the controversy, a Nato official said Rutte was only highlighting how allies, including Italy, had implemented existing bilateral agreements related to military basing and overflight permissions.Rutte said European allies had quietly made their bases available to support US operations even if they avoided publicly emphasising their role due to domestic political sensitivities."If you look at Italy, 500 US planes took off from US bases in Italy to support Epic Fury.

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