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's efforts to confront Iran and re-open the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports.
"I don't understand why anybody would not be supportive," Rubio told reporters, adding that countries needed "something more than just strongly worded statements" if they opposed Iran's actions.
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's frustration over Italy's refusal to support the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Meloni had been one of Trump's 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.
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.
Meloni and Rubio met for 1-1/2 hours, in what she later described to reporters in Milan as a "certainly frank" discussion between countries willing to defend their national interest while valuing the transatlantic partnership.
An Italian official, who asked not to be named, said talks focused on issues including the Middle East, the situation in Libya and also in Lebanon, where Rome has soldiers deployed as part of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.
The official added Meloni was "very direct and clear" during her talks with Rubio, as Italy - highly dependent on energy imports - grapples with the surge in global fuel prices triggered by the Iran conflict.
Rubio declined to give full details. However, he warned that Tehran's claim to control access to Hormuz risked setting a dangerous precedent.
"The fundamental question every country, not just Italy ... needs to ask themselves is, are you going to normalise a country claiming to control an international waterway? Because if you normalise that, you've set a precedent that's going to get repeated in a dozen other places," he said.
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.
