{"id":942,"date":"2026-05-22T03:46:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T03:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/22\/middle-east-live-nato-allies-to-sound-out-us-top-diplomat-after-trump-iran-ire\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T03:46:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T03:46:51","slug":"middle-east-live-nato-allies-to-sound-out-us-top-diplomat-after-trump-iran-ire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=942","title":{"rendered":"Middle East live: NATO allies to sound out US top diplomat after Trump Iran ire"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"t-content t-content--article t-content--liveblog\" id=\"main-content\">\n<div class=\"t-content__above-main\">\n<div class=\"a-status-tag a-status-tag--breaking\">Live<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"t-content__title a-page-title\">Middle East live: NATO allies to sound out US top diplomat after Trump Iran ire<\/h1>\n<div class=\"m-master-tag\">\n<div class=\"a-tag-section\">\n                                    Middle East\n                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__metadata\">\n<div class=\"t-content__dates\">\n<p class=\"m-pub-dates\"><span class=\"m-pub-dates__date\">Issued on: <time datetime=\"2026-05-22T02:49:20+00:00\">22\/05\/2026 &#8211; 04:49<\/time><\/span><span class=\"m-pub-dates__date\">Modified: <time datetime=\"2026-05-22T02:55:29+00:00\">22\/05\/2026 &#8211; 04:55<\/time><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a-share-button\" data-root-share>\n<p>                        <span class=\"a-master-button__label\">Share<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__authors\">\n<div class=\"m-from-author\">\n                    <span class=\"m-from-author__by-label\"><br \/>\n                By:<br \/>\n            <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"m-author\">\n<div class=\"m-author__name\">\n                                                    <a href=\"\/en\/author\/france-24\/\" title=\"FRANCE 24\" class=\"m-author__name__title\"><br \/>\n                                FRANCE 24<br \/>\n                            <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__main-media\">\n<figure class=\"m-item-image m-item-image--16x9 m-item-image--has-caption\">\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/ce7f36dc-2941-11f1-8b57-005056bf30b7\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/2026-03-26T175809Z-379959109-RC2HCKA4OHD5-RTRMADP-3-G7-FOREIGN.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/ce7f36dc-2941-11f1-8b57-005056bf30b7\/w:388\/p:16x9\/2026-03-26T175809Z-379959109-RC2HCKA4OHD5-RTRMADP-3-G7-FOREIGN.jpg 388w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/ce7f36dc-2941-11f1-8b57-005056bf30b7\/w:720\/p:16x9\/2026-03-26T175809Z-379959109-RC2HCKA4OHD5-RTRMADP-3-G7-FOREIGN.jpg 720w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/ce7f36dc-2941-11f1-8b57-005056bf30b7\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/2026-03-26T175809Z-379959109-RC2HCKA4OHD5-RTRMADP-3-G7-FOREIGN.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1076px) 100vw, 1012px\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" alt=\"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, March 26, 2026.  \" loading=\"eager\" class=\"a-img \"><figcaption class=\"a-figcaption\">\n                <span>US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, March 26, 2026<\/span>                <span>\u00a9 Brendan Smialowski, Reuters<\/span>            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__main\" data-article-content>\n<p class=\"t-content__chapo\">\n                                NATO&#8217;s European members will look to sound out US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on troop cuts by Washington Friday, as they seek to smooth over President Donald Trump&#8217;s ire ahead of a July summit. The meeting of alliance foreign ministers in the Swedish city of Helsingborg comes after the US leader lashed out at Europe over its response to his war on Iran.\u00a0Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.            <\/p>\n<div class=\"t-content__body u-clearfix\">\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"em-WBMZ549936-F24-EN-20260522\" class=\"m-em-liveblog\" data-liveblog>\n<div>\n<div>\n                        <time datetime=\"2026-05-22T02:55:29+00:00\">22\/05\/2026 &#8211; 04:55<\/time><\/p>\n<h2>US Navy official says Taiwan arm sales on &#8216;pause&#8217; over Iran war<\/h2>\n<p><span>The acting US Navy secretary said Thursday that arm sales to Taiwan had been put on &#8220;pause&#8221; to ensure that the American military had sufficient munitions for its Iran operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><span>Asked at a congressional hearing about the stalled $14 billion weapons purchase by Taiwan, acting secretary Hung Cao said that &#8220;right now we&#8217;re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury &#8212; which we have plenty.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;But, we&#8217;re just making sure we have everything, then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n                        <time datetime=\"2026-05-22T02:48:48+00:00\">22\/05\/2026 &#8211; 04:48<\/time><\/p>\n<h2>NATO allies to sound out US top diplomat after Trump Iran ire<\/h2>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\">NATO&#8217;s European members will look to sound out US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on troop cuts by Washington Friday, as they seek to smooth over President Donald Trump&#8217;s ire ahead of a July summit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\">The meeting of alliance foreign ministers in the Swedish city of Helsingborg comes after the US leader lashed out at Europe over its response to his war on Iran &#8212; and threatened he could consider quitting NATO.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\">The 77-year-old alliance was rattled this month when Washington abruptly announced it was withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany after a spat between Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\">While the Trump administration had long warned it would pull out forces from Europe to focus on other threats, a lack of coordination has heightened concern over Washington&#8217;s reliability in the face of a menacing Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"ql-align-justify\">One of the goals in Helsingborg &#8220;is to see whether we&#8217;ve turned the page or not ahead of the Ankara summit,&#8221; a European diplomat said.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n                        <time datetime=\"2026-05-22T02:47:42+00:00\">22\/05\/2026 &#8211; 04:47<\/time>                        <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dashboard.eu.arena.im\/live\/5oNzxvg#post=Im5KFxH3Y8Ml1YIlTLRA\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;We are against broad tax cuts on fuel&#8217;, French PM Lecornu says<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dashboard.eu.arena.im\/live\/5oNzxvg#post=YPbHBiRmspYONiZVHrpV\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Hormuz tolling system would make diplomatic deal unfeasible, Rubio says<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dashboard.eu.arena.im\/live\/5oNzxvg#post=RmOL9OrAcy1TznJDZyQQ\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Israel deports all foreign activists from Gaza flotilla<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dashboard.eu.arena.im\/live\/5oNzxvg#post=9hdAZSaTXdSIIMPSEVi0\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Iran has &#8216;received US views and are reviewing them&#8217;, foreign ministry says<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/dashboard.eu.arena.im\/live\/5oNzxvg#post=5vNfQnXCmyW62itR0jm6\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Pakistani army chief to visit Tehran in mediation effort between US and Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/middle-east\/20260521-middle-east-war-live-trump-says-willing-to-wait-a-few-days-for-right-answer-on-iran-peace-deal\" target=\"_self\">Yesterday&#8217;s key developments:<\/a><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A group of Hezbollah-affiliated parliamentarians, state security officials, and allies of the militant group were hit with US <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/sanctions\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">sanctions<\/a> Thursday, for allegedly seeking to preserve the Iran-backed group&#8217;s influence over Lebanese state institutions and obstruct disarmament efforts.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/board-of-peace\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Board of Peace<\/a>&#8216;s lead envoy for Gaza warned the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/un-security-council\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">UN Security Council<\/a> on Thursday that the enclave&#8217;s current division could become permanent, leaving \u200bmore than 2 \u200cmillion people crowded into less than half its territory, unless a \u2060ceasefire takes hold.<\/li>\n<li>US Secretary of State <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/marco-rubio\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Marco Rubio<\/a> on Thursday renewed criticism of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/nato\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">NATO<\/a> for not supporting the US war on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/iran\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Iran<\/a>, as he headed to alliance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/talks\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">talks<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/sweden\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Sweden<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__below-main\">\n<div class=\"t-content__tags\">\n<div class=\"m-section-title m-section-title--small\">Keywords for this article<\/div>\n<ul class=\"m-tags-list\">\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/iran\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Iran\">    Iran<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/usa\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"USA\">    USA<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/us-military\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"US military\">    US military<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/military\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"military\">    military<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/israel\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Israel\">    Israel<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/strait-of-hormuz\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Strait of Hormuz\">    Strait of Hormuz<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/iran-conflict\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Iran war\">    Iran war<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/activists\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"activists\">    activists<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Live Middle East live: NATO allies to sound out US top diplomat after Trump Iran&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}