Iran war jeopardizes US global leadership, warns Italian minister

The Iran war has put U.S. global leadership on the line, Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said, expressing fear about the "madness" of nuclear escalation.

Like some other NATO allies reluctant to join U.S. President Donald Trump's attacks on Iran, Italy last week denied permission for U.S. military aircraft to land at the Sigonella air base in Sicily en route to the Middle East.

"This war is also putting the United States at risk in its global leadership," Crosetto told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday.

Crosetto, a close ally of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who has a good relationship with Trump, said he worried the conflict could take an even worse turn and cited the 1945 U.S. nuclear bombings of Japan in World War Two.

"Just think: it was human beings like us who decided that even Hiroshima and Nagasaki were acceptable means of ending a conflict. Unfortunately, we still possess nuclear weapons, and those who do not have them are seeking to acquire them. We have learnt nothing," he said.

"The risk is madness, and what we are experiencing is a conflict in which every action triggers a reaction at a higher level".

Crosetto, who is due to address parliament about the Iran war later on Tuesday, said Trump should have braver advisers.

"One of the problems of this presidency is that no one dares contradict the boss," he said.

With Trump angry at Europe's stance on the war, Crosetto said Italy has not given the U.S. permission to use its bases in other circumstances than those that arose last week.

Meloni, who has so far refrained from taking a hard line against the war, visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over the weekend to show support for Gulf nations facing Iranian attacks and to protect Italy’s energy supplies as the world grapples with rising fuel prices.

-Writing by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Andrew Cawthorne/Reuters