U.S. air strikes on Iran did not break international law, NATO's Rutte says
Pre-emptive U.S. airstrikes on Iran are not a violation of international law, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said as he prepares to welcome Donald Trump to a summit of member countries that was choreographed to keep the United States in the military alliance.
Mr. Rutte, NATO's top civilian official, was speaking ahead of the Tuesday opening of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit where all 32 member states agreed to hike core defence spending to 3.5 per cent of their annual economic output after the U.S. president asked for this. Mr. Trump in March said he won't defend allies that are not paying enough for their defence.
Israel targets Iran's government and key Tehran prison as Iran launches more attacks on Israel
Mr. Rutte defended the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites after being asked two times about whether they breach international law as Russia did by attacking Ukraine in 2022.
'My biggest fear would be for Iran to own and be able to use and deploy a nuclear weapon to be a stranglehold on Israel, on the whole region and other parts of the world,' the secretary-general said.
'This is a consistent position of NATO: Iran should not have its hands on a nuclear on a nuclear weapon,' he said. 'I would not agree that this is against international law — what the U.S. did."
Belgium Prime Minister Bart De Wever, who met with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Brussels Monday, told reporters he is of two minds on the U.S. airstrikes.
'In a rules-based world, you just don't start bombing other people,' he said. 'Having said that, Iran is an evil regime,' Mr. De Wever said.
He and Mr. Carney on Monday laid wreaths at Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery in Belgium where Canadian soldiers who fought in the Second World War are buried.
'Iran is the big sponsor of terrorism,' Mr. De Wever said.
'Without Iran, there wouldn't have been a Hamas. Without a Hamas, not a 7th of October. Without the 7th of October, not a war in Gaza,' he said. 'Without Iran, there wouldn't be a Hezbollah. There wouldn't be Houthis. So it's a hard regime to feel sorry for.'
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Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Full disclosure and I confess: I campaigned for the Democrats. Now, not every Democrat lacks a soul. Many of them are decent. But quite a few of them, as recent events make clear, have become willing hostages of Jew-hating, democracy-destroying, Hamas-fetishizing crypto-Nazis. As a volunteer on Democratic presidential campaigns – for Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024 – I was on the team that played against Donald Trump several times. In so doing, I learned three important things. One, Trump campaigned on killing free trade, and he's doing just that. 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