Iran: Rubio says Trump is very angry with Italy and other countries

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that President Donald Trump is “very angry” with Italy and other countries over their stance on the Iranian crisis. “We will work on this issue together with Italy,” he assured, however. “Our relations with Italia,” Rubio clarified, “are continuing smoothly at all levels. Obviously, Trump is very disappointed with Italia and other countries’ stance on Iran, because ‘he believes that, at a time when we were facing a threat that concerned not only us but the whole of Europe, many European countries did not rise to the occasion and did not do enough. Unfortunately, Italia is among them.”

The statements come at an already delicate stage, following the controversy over US bases in Italia. The issue had already come to the fore during Rubio’s visit to Rome on 8 May, when the Secretary of State had called on European allies, including Italia, to move from words to deeds against Tehran and to support American efforts in the Strait of Hormuz.

Today, Rubio is in the Gulf to reassure regional allies regarding the framework of the preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran. When asked by the press whether he had spoken to his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, Rubio replied: “I spoke to” Foreign Minister Tajani “on Friday or Saturday, when he had decided not to come” to the US, “we have a series of agreements on critical minerals and other matters that we have finalised; they will be signed”. “I have a good relationship with him; he rang me and told me he wouldn’t be coming to Miami,” Rubio added, referring to Tajani. Later, returning to the subject of the war in Iran and the position of NATO countries, Rubio also stated: “We have always said that Iran poses a greater threat to Europe than to the United States. Iran already possesses missiles capable of reaching parts of Europe. This is part of President Donald Trump’s frustration.”