US gets no commitment from NATO for help on Iran threat

BRUSSELS — NATO allies give the US no firm commitments that they will participate in a global effort to secure international waterways against threats from Iran, US Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper says today, wrapping up his first alliance meeting.

Esper says the US will come back next month and provide reluctant allies more details on exactly how the Iranian threat has escalated in recent months, and how nations can work together to deter further aggression.

“At the end of the day what our ask is here, near term, is to publicly condemn Iran’s bad behavior,” Esper says as he prepared to leave Brussels. “And in the meantime, in order to avoid a military escalation, help us maintain the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian Gulf and wherever.”

He got little of either. But Esper says that some allies privately expressed interest in hearing more.

Esper’s visit to NATO, just days after he took over at the Pentagon, came amid sharply increased tensions between the US and the Islamic Republic. The Trump administration has blamed Iran for recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, as well as bombings in Iraq. Iranian forces also shot down an American drone that it said had flown into its airspace, which the US disputes.

Earlier this week, as he headed to NATO, Esper said his goal was to persuade allies that the confrontation with Iran is a global challenge requiring an international response, and that it is “not Iran versus the United States.”

— AP