{"id":14186,"date":"2026-05-08T16:34:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/14186\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:34:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T16:34:54","slug":"rubio-presses-italy-allies-to-do-more-on-iran-after-talks-with-meloni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/14186\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio presses Italy, allies to do more on Iran after talks with Meloni"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Chigi Palace, in Rome, Italy, Friday.Matteo Minnella\/Reuters<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday and afterwards questioned why allies including Italy were not backing Washington\u2019s efforts to confront Iran and re-open the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand why anybody would not be supportive,\u201d Rubio told reporters, adding that countries needed \u201csomething more than just strongly worded statements\u201d if they opposed Iran\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

Rubio was wrapping up a two-day trip aimed at easing ties with Pope Leo after attacks on the pontiff by President Donald Trump, while also addressing Washington\u2019s frustration over Italy\u2019s refusal to support the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n

Meloni had been one of Trump\u2019s firmest allies in Europe, cultivating close ties with him and presenting herself as a natural bridge between Washington and other EU states that had no natural political affinity with the Republican U.S. leader.<\/p>\n

Analysis: an Marco Rubio repair the rift between Donald Trump, Pope Leo XIV and Giorgia Meloni? Probably not<\/a><\/p>\n

But that alignment has come under increasing strain in recent months, as the Iran war has forced her to balance loyalty to the United States against Italian public animosity to the war and the growing economic cost of the conflict.<\/p>\n

Meloni and Rubio met for 1\u00bd hours. The Italians did not immediately comment on the talks, while Rubio declined to give full details. However, he warned that Tehran\u2019s claim to control access to Hormuz risked setting a dangerous precedent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a frank dialogue between allies who defend their own national interests while fully recognizing the value of western unity,\u201d Meloni said.<\/p>\n

Rubio declined to give full details. However, he warned that Tehran\u2019s claim to control access to Hormuz risked setting a dangerous precedent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fundamental question every country, not just Italy … needs to ask themselves is, are you going to normalize a country claiming to control an international waterway? Because if you normalize that, you\u2019ve set a precedent that\u2019s going to get repeated in a dozen other places,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Pope Leo XIV meets U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican, on Thursday.Vatican Media\/Simone Risoluti\/via REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u2018The United States needs Europe and Italy\u2019<\/p>\n

Italy and other European allies have said they would be willing to help keep the strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ends, but have refused to be drawn into direct confrontation with Iran.<\/p>\n

Before seeing Meloni, Rubio met Italy\u2019s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said he hoped the visit had helped calm tensions with the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am convinced Europe needs America, Italy needs America, but also that the United States needs Europe and Italy,\u201d Tajani told reporters.<\/p>\n

Besides the war in the Gulf, Meloni and Rubio had also been expected to discuss Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine, U.S. tariffs on European goods and the outlook for Cuba, which Washington is seeking to isolate both diplomatically and economically.<\/p>\n

The Italians were also keen for a readout on Rubio\u2019s meetings at the Vatican. Trump\u2019s recent attacks on Pope Leo crossed a sensitive line in overwhelmingly Catholic Italy and prompted Meloni to call them \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio visits Vatican to smooth ties after Trump\u2019s criticism of Pope Leo<\/a><\/p>\n

Her criticism in turn drew a sharp rebuke from Trump, who said she lacked courage. He subsequently threatened to withdraw U.S. troops from Italy.<\/p>\n

Rubio said he didn\u2019t get into specifics about U.S. bases, saying it was a decision for Trump to make.<\/p>\n

Italy last month refused to allow U.S. aircraft to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for combat operations linked to the Iran conflict. Italian officials said Washington had not sought prior authorization from Rome for the use of the site.<\/p>\n

Rubio did not mention this incident, but pointed to Spain\u2019s decision not to allow its bases or airspace be used to attack Iran. He said one of the main attractions of NATO for the U.S. was to have forces in Europe that could be swiftly deployed elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that\u2019s no longer the case, at least when it comes to some NATO members, that\u2019s a problem and has to be examined,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4293,4283,4294,1188,4276,1557,147,4275,4288,4289,4285,4277,4274,1131,4292,1294,4287,201,4305,4278,4279,3297,5,4284,1815,1333,4295,4281,4300,4301,4303,4298,4302,4296,4299,4280,3867,4291,356,4290,4297,3869,1138,614,4286,4282,243,4304],"class_list":{"0":"post-14186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-italy","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}