Washington, APR 1 (V7N) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Tuesday that the United States will need to “reexamine” its relationship with NATO once the ongoing war against Iran concludes.

Speaking on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, Rubio emphasized that the issue of NATO's value to US interests would need to be addressed post-conflict.

“I think there’s no doubt, unfortunately, after this conflict is concluded, we are going to have to reexamine that relationship. We’re going to have to reexamine the value of NATO in that alliance for our country,” Rubio stated.

The veteran US diplomat, who had been a strong proponent of NATO during his tenure in the Senate, explained that much of NATO's value had stemmed from having US military bases in Europe, which allowed the US to project power globally.

He voiced concerns that if the alliance no longer permitted the US to use these bases for operations vital to American interests, then NATO would essentially become “a one-way street.”

“If now we have reached a point where the NATO alliance means that we can’t use those bases, that in fact we can no longer use those bases to defend America’s interests, then NATO is a one-way street,” Rubio said.

The Secretary of State also expressed frustration with several European NATO members who have recently restricted US military operations, citing incidents such as Italy denying a US aircraft permission to land while en route to the Middle East for combat missions, and Spain closing its airspace to US planes conducting operations against Iran.

“When we need them to allow us to use their military bases, their answer is ‘No?’ Then why are we in NATO?” Rubio questioned.

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