The Iran crisis shows NATO is “growing, not lessening” in importance as Europe faces direct security risks from Tehran, Donald Trump’s former national security adviser has told TVP World. John Bolton’s comments come as NATO’s future role is being questioned on both sides of the Atlantic, with Washington pressing European allies to take on more responsibility for their defense and concerns growing that US attention and weapons could be stretched between Ukraine, the Middle East and Asia. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Bolton said European governments should not see the confrontation with Iran only as a US problem, or only through the question of whether a wider Middle East conflict could reduce American military support for Ukraine. “The importance of the NATO alliance is growing, not lessening,” Bolton said. “The Iranians have carried out significant numbers of terrorist activities in Europe, as they have in North America,” he added.
Europe is also closer to Iran than the United States and could be reached by Iranian intermediate-range ballistic missiles, Bolton said. Trump under pressure Bolton, who served as national security adviser during Trump’s first term, said the US president had failed to clearly explain his goal in the Iran crisis. “He wants to find a deal. He wants to declare victory, and he wants gasoline prices at US service stations to come down,” Bolton said.
