Iran25 June, 20263 min read
Iran Accuses Italy And Romania Of Complicity In Trump’s War After Rutte Comments
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Iran accuses Italy and Romania of complicity in Trump's war. Accusation follows Rutte's remarks about 500 US aircraft from Italian bases.
Italy-Iran dispute escalates
Iran accused Italy of being complicit in what it called Trump’s war after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s comments about “500 US aircraft taking off from Italian bases bound for Iran,” and the Iranian Foreign Ministry also accused Romania alongside Italy. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Abbas Araghchi that “Italia has never taken part in any military initiative and has never authorised the use of its bases for acts of war against Iran,” as tensions in Rome “show no sign of abating.” The dispute fed into a wider diplomatic push, with Araghchi calling for “an explicit and official denial of Italia’s involvement” in the NATO Secretary-General’s statements.
The Il Sole 24 ORE account also tied the controversy to a UN-linked safety decision, saying the International Maritime Organisation temporarily suspended the Hormuz evacuation plan after an attack in the Gulf of Oman on a vessel that had just passed through the maritime corridor. In the same reporting, UN International Maritime Organisation Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said he suspended the plan “to verify that the necessary safety conditions are still in place” for ships included in the evacuation programme and for all vessels operating in the region.
Bahrain tightens Ashura rules
As Iran-war fallout rippled across the region, Bahrain imposed strict limits on Ashura commemorations, cutting observances from the usual 10 days to five and requiring processions to end by midnight, except in Manama where they may continue until 2 a.m. The Il Sole 24 ORE-linked reporting context described Bahrain as a Sunni-ruled Persian Gulf state that hosts the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and it said Bahrain ordered the restrictions after it faced “hundreds of Iranian drone and missile attacks during the recent war.” The same account said Bahrain also barred citizens from traveling to Iran and Iraq until further notice, affecting thousands of Bahrainis who usually travel during this period to Karbala.
In parallel, France 24 reported that Israeli airstrikes continued in southern Lebanon despite Washington and Tehran announcing an agreement to end the war between them and to include the Lebanon front between Israel and Hezbollah. France 24 said at least five people were killed in southern Lebanon, with four killed on Tuesday, as Israeli warplanes struck Nabatieh al-Fouqa and the eastern outskirts of Kfar Tabnit and a drone struck Ansariyeh in the Zahrani region.
Ashura becomes political messaging
In Iran itself, Al Jazeera described Ashura ceremonies as intertwining faith and state messaging, with black cloths draped across passageways and neighbourhoods in Tehran and other Iranian cities as Tasua and Ashura marked public holidays. The report said the state presents Ashura as political, presenting itself as a continuation of Hussein, the “martyred” leader, and it described how slain commanders of the Tehran-backed “axis of resistance” are believed by supporters to have attained the highest levels of honour in death. Al Jazeera also said Khamenei, who held absolute power for nearly 37 years, is now called “seyyed ol-shohada” by state media and some followers, and it reported that he is slated to be buried in the second week of July during Muharram.
The same Al Jazeera account said Tehran’s Enghelab (Revolution) Square and other major areas are closed off at night to accommodate large-scale state-organised events, and it described police and other armed forces guarding some processions. It further reported that Iranian cities are expected to remain shrouded in black garments for weeks after Khamenei’s burial, while Al Jazeera said the mourning events provide another opportunity for supporters to rail against foreign powers as Iran engages in negotiations with Washington after signing a memorandum of understanding last week to end the four-month US-Israel war on Iran.