NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on June 23 that 500 US planes took off from American bases in Italy to support "Operation Epic Fury," the US-led military campaign against Iran [1, 2, 3, 4]. He described the scale as "massive," highlighting the role of Italy's facilities in the operation [2].
Italy immediately pushed back on these remarks. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto stated the government authorized solely technical and logistical, non-combat flights from Italian territory. "As already clarified in parliament, the government authorised exclusively technical and logistical, non-kinetic activities," Crosetto said [1]. He added that it was "surprising" for the NATO chief to confuse authorized flights and issue a "completely misleading message," noting Rutte had no direct involvement with Operation Epic Fury [3].
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the controversy "a storm in a teacup" and said Italy fully complies with its constitutional and treaty obligations. "Italy had always acted in full compliance with its constitutional and treaty obligations, and remains ready to provide full transparency to parliament on the matter," Tajani said [3].
Opposition politicians challenged the government in parliament after Rutte's remarks. Nicola Fratoianni criticized the official response, saying, "Either the government had misled lawmakers or Rutte has suffered a heatstroke" [2].
Italy hosts roughly 120 US military installations, including the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily and Aviano air base in northern Italy, providing vital locations for US forces in Europe [1, 2, 3, 4]. NATO clarified that Rutte's comments referred to existing bilateral agreements covering basing and overflight rights for logistical and technical support, not direct combat operations [1, 2, 3].
Relations between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and former US President Donald Trump are already tense over disagreements on Italy's support in US military operations against Iran [1, 4].
The dispute lays bare the sensitive balance Italy must maintain in hosting US forces. Italian officials confirmed on June 24 that only non-combat flights have received authorization, while parliamentary scrutiny continues in reaction to NATO's statements [1, 2, 3, 4].
