Ankara, July 8 -- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday defended the recent US military strikes on Iran, calling them "absolutely necessary" after Tehran allegedly attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Delivering his doorstep statement ahead of the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Rutte said that the US strikes were in relation to Iran's violation of the ceasefire as part of the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran to end the hostilities in West Asia.

"I think it was absolutely necessary because when you have a ceasefire, Iran is basically violating the ceasefire. We've seen what happened yesterday with ships being attacked. I think it is totally crucial that the US fo...