Attacks on Iran 'absolutely necessary', says NATO chief in Ankara

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said on Wednesday that the new strikes on Iran by the United States were "absolutely necessary", AzerNEWS reports.

"When you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire - we've seen what happened yesterday, with ships [in the Strait of Hormuz] being attacked - I think it is totally crucial that the US forcefully react," he told reporters during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkiye.

Furthermore, the NATO chief said he expects allies to reconfirm that Iran must fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced it had launched a large-scale missile and drone operation targeting 85 U.S. military facilities, including Salman Port, the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

CENTCOM said the U.S. strikes were conducted "in immediate response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz."