NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. President Joe Biden, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Slovakia’s President Peter Pellegrini and Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama stand together as they attend NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, U.S., July 10, 2024 (Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman).
At the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Washington, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz delivered a clear message: “Iran, Iran, Iran,” a source told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
The messaging appeared to pay off, as Katz received assurances from four countries that they would support declaring the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terror organization, which would also lead to sanctions against the Iranian regime’s armed forces.
While the main focus of the NATO summit was the Russia-Ukraine war, Katz emphasized the deepening ties between Russia and Iran to highlight the danger of the Iranian regime not just for Israel, but the whole world.
The commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force recently announced the regime was looking for an opportunity to launch another direct missile attack against Israel.
In his various meetings, Katz also brought up China’s growing ambitions in the Middle East, which include intelligence sharing with Iran and Russia.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Katz emphasized that the axis of Russia, Iranian, Chinese posed a danger not just to Israel but to Europe and NATO.
Katz reportedly met with representatives of Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the Czech Republic on the sidelines of the summit, who all promised they would back declaring the IRGC a terror group.
שמח לפגוש את שר החוץ הנכנס של הולנד קספר ולדקמפ @CasparVeldkamp. דנו בנושאים רבים, בין היתר במלחמה הצודקת של ישראל נגד ארגון הטרור חמאס בעזה וחשיבות התניית כל הפסקת אש בשחרור החטופים תחילה ובצורך לקדם סנקציות חריפות נגד איראן. השר הודיע כי הולנד תצטרף ליוזמה לקידום החלטה באיחוד… pic.twitter.com/LdmekbkOBc
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) July 10, 2024
Newly-elected Dutch Foreign Minister Kasper Veldkamp, who previously served as the ambassador to Israel, said: “I will never forget October 7. The hostages are dear to my heart. I feel like I lost someone from my family.”
“You can completely trust us because our unequivocal position is that a ceasefire must involve the release of the hostages, and we fully share your concerns regarding Iran. We will support the declaration of the IRGC as a terrorist organization and will work to promote [it] in the European Union,” Veldkamp stated.
Katz said he and Veldkamp discussed “Israel’s just war against the Hamas terror organization in Gaza, the importance of conditioning any ceasefire on the release of the hostages, and the need to promote severe sanctions against Iran… We will continue to join hands in our fight against terror.”
An important meeting with Denmark FM @larsloekke on the margins of the #NATOSummit. I thanked him for his support of Israel and its right to self-defense, and for his commitment to the release of all hostages. I reiterated that Iran poses the greatest threat to the West, and we… pic.twitter.com/VKdC7IfRC4
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israelkatz) July 10, 2024
After the meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen, Katz wrote on 𝕏 that he thought “we now have a significant opportunity to build a broad coalition of many countries to increase sanctions against the Iranian regime.”
During the NATO summit, Katz also spoke with several other foreign ministers, including from Germany, South Korea, and Canada, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin, who is responsible for advancing U.S. financial sanctions.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also traveled to Washington for the summit for his first visit to the United States since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
Last May, Erdoğan canceled his planned visit to the U.S. over the war in Gaza, as Erdoğan has publicly supported the Iranian terror proxy group Hamas. Turkish media reported that the trip was canceled because of Washington’s support for Israel.
Erdoğan reportedly also aims to shore up NATO support for Turkey’s military action against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which continue to be supported by the United States. The conflict has led to a thaw in the ties between Turkey and the Syrian Assad regime after Turkey was among the main backers and sponsors of Islamist rebel groups fighting against the regime over the past decade.
