Nato launched major projects on maritime security and counter-drone work that will boost responses to threats faced by partners in the Gulf, a senior alliance official told The National on Wednesday.
The alliance formally launched four “flagship projects” on countering unmanned aerial vehicles, maritime security, counter-terrorism and defence against chemical and nuclear weapons, Nato's special representative for the Middle East, Javier Colomina, said in an interview at the Nato summit in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
“Those flagship projects are actually responding to the security needs that our partners on the ground have had, particularly in the last months,” he said. The projects were approved at a meeting in Sweden this May, but officially launched during the continuing high-stakes Nato summit.
Ensuring maritime security and counter-drone work are “extremely current” issues, Mr Colomina said.
Kuwait and Bahrain said they responded to drone and missile attacks on Wednesday morning, after the US attacked 80 Iranian boats and sites including coastal radars. Those strikes were in response to Iranian attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, indicating the fragility of the ceasefire between the US and Iran intended to bring the conflict to an end.
Details on the projects follow a meeting in Ankara of Nato's foreign ministers and a separate meeting with senior officials from Gulf nations, including Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, which Mr Colomina described as “very, very fruitful”. Those countries are members of the Istanbul Co-operation Initiative, which also includes the UAE, a platform set up in 2004 to deepen Nato’s co-operation with Middle Eastern countries.
“These flagship projects will give us the opportunity to go deeper into the practical co-operation that we already have with these countries,” said Mr Colomina, who is Nato’s special representative for the so-called southern neighbourhood, comprising the Middle East, North Africa and Sahel regions. A Spanish former diplomat, who in 2021 was appointed Nato's deputy assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy, Mr Colomina also took up responsibility for engagement with the Middle East and North Africa in 2024.
“We cannot forget that we have had a relationship with these [Gulf] countries already for more than 20 years, but we are in a different phase of it,” he said. “I think yesterday the whole 32 allies and the four countries from the Gulf clearly embraced this new phase where we are, where we can go much deeper, we have more co-operation, and a stronger relationship.”
Mr Colomina described Gulf nations as “re-evaluating their security alliances,” in response to the Iran war, during which the region came under sustained drone and missile attacks from Iran. While the ceasefire announced in April has lessened their intensity, the continuing volleys highlight the persistent threats in the area, including to ships attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital naval trade passage.
“What we've seen is an increased interest in doing more with us, in doing more with many of the Western allies, since those were the ones that basically came in supporting our Gulf partners,” Mr Colomina said. “We've done as much as we could as an alliance. The result of that process has been these flagship projects.”
Mr Colomina acknowledged the continuing threats in the Gulf, especially as freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz continues to be limited. “We saw the events in the last 48 hours, first the attacks by the Iranians and then the logical response by the Americans,” he said, referring to the US strikes on Iranian targets overnight.
“We have very much welcomed the negotiations led by the US, and the ceasefire. We only hope that the ceasefire will hold, and we only hope that it will end up in a proper peace deal.” Vital for Nato is ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon – something Tehran says it is not seeking – and guaranteeing freedom of passage in the Strait of Hormuz, he added.
Regional tension
Speaking later on Wednesday in Ankara, Mr Trump said it was a “waste of time” trying to deal with the Iranians and that the ceasefire was “over”.
Iran has also accused the US of failing to meet its commitments under the 14-point ceasefire plan, which was intended to pave the way for more substantive negotiations on a long-lasting peace agreement.
In an attempt to confront the Iranian chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, Britain and France are imminently set to launch a mission there to protect commercial shipping. The National reported earlier this week. Nato is not playing an “active role” but will encourage such efforts by member states, Mr Colomina said.
“We have very actively encouraged our allies to do as much as they can, and that's why we have welcomed and applauded the multinational maritime mission that is being led by the French and by the UK, and with the participation of many of our allies,” he said.
Nato will continue to encourage them “to do as much as possible, to pre-position assets as they're doing, to start working on de-mining the Strait of Hormuz, on helping for the freedom of passage to be guaranteed,” he added.
The war with Iran has also had an impact on Nato’s mission in Iraq, where drone and missile strikes launched by Iran and allied Iraqi militias hit diplomatic missions, oil facilities and airport complexes. The US also launched counter-strikes against Iran-backed Iraqi fighters.
Amid the deteriorating conditions, Nato in March confirmed the withdrawal of personnel from its non-combat advisory and training mission in Iraq to its Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy.
Mr Colomina confirmed that Nato forces are still in Italy and have not returned to Iraq. Led by the Spanish Lt Gen Ramón Armada Vázquez since May, the force will return “the moment security conditions allow”, Mr Colomina said.
“With the agreement of the Iraqi government that we already have, it's just a matter of where we are with the situation on the ground. As you know, these are dire times, difficult times, and a military force needs to take into consideration those security conditions.”
