US Secretary of Defense Pit Hegset accused Great Britain and some NATO members of not providing enough support to Washington during the war with Iran.
Modern.az reports with reference to foreign media that Hegset, speaking at the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, called the position of a number of allies during the operations led by the US "shameful".
According to him, some European countries, including Great Britain, restricted the use of military bases by US forces in their territories during the conflict or did not allow American military aircraft to pass through their airspace.
The head of the Pentagon stated that when President Donald Trump made a decision regarding the Iran war, he expected from the allies only that conditions would be created for US planes to take off from bases in Europe or for US ships to use ports.
"Nothing was asked. Simply, access to bases and airspace was needed for operations against Iranian targets that also threatened European interests in the Middle East. But many allies said "no" to this, or tried to involve us in complex legal disputes. Some openly criticized us," Hegset emphasized.
The US Secretary of Defense noted that such decisions negatively affected the safety of American servicemen.
"It was shameful. Those allies risked the lives of US sons and daughters, our servicemen. However, passage through airspace and access to bases should never have been a subject of dispute," he said.
Hegset also announced the start of a six-month comprehensive review of the status of US military forces in Europe. He warned that if NATO members do not increase their military budgets in line with the alliance's defense spending targets, a reduction in the number of US forces in Europe may be on the agenda in the future.
According to him, the assessment conducted after the agreement on the end of the war with Iran showed that some allies did not show the level of solidarity that Washington expected in security matters.
