NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Well, I know Biden, president-elect Joe Biden, as a very stopping supporter of NATO. And he knows NATO very well through his previous experiences as a leader of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate and also as vice president. And I also have had the privilege of working with him over many years, so I know that he’s a committed supporter of strong partnership, cooperation between North America and Europe to NATO. And this is important, because a strong NATO is, of course, good for Europe, with the U.S. security guarantees, the U.S. troops in Europe, but it’s also extremely good for the United States, especially in the light of the rise of China. It’s extremely good for the United States to have so many friends and allies as they have in NATO.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, you’re obviously very diplomatic. And you have had to work with President Trump for the last four years. Would you say that, I guess, the concept that you’re discussing again, multilateralism, work with allies, did that sort of run aground a bit during the last four years? Are you expecting Biden to step up that relationship?

STOLTENBERG: Well, I called him, and he expressed strong support to NATO. And I invited him to the upcoming NATO summit here in Brussels early next year. And I’m looking forward to receiving his here, because then we can sit together around the same table and discuss how we can further strengthen the NATO and the transatlantic bond.

AMANPOUR: Can I ask you about a question that’s very much in the news right now? It’s not necessarily a NATO question, but it’s a security and a global security question. And that is the recent assassination of the top nuclear scientist in Iran by Israel. Israel hasn’t commentated, but most people believe that that — and maybe or maybe not got the green light from the United States. The E.U. has called it, if I’m not mistaken, a criminal act, and one that runs counter to the principle of respect for human rights that the E.U. stands for. Even the former CIA director says the attack was a criminal act and highly reckless. You — even as secretary-general of NATO, you welcomed in 2017 the Iran nuclear pact. Do you want to see what Biden has said he will do, and that is to try to get back into that pact? And just as a former elected leader yourself, how complicating do you think this assassination might be for any resumption of diplomacy?

STOLTENBERG: I supported, I welcomed the Iran deal when it was agreed some years ago. Then, for some time now, we had some differences inside the lines on that issue. At the same time, we have one administration at a time in the United States which NATO is working with, and now we work with the current U.S. administration. Then, after the 20th of January, we will have a new administration, and I’m looking forward to working with that administration, because I know Joe Biden as a strong supporter of diplomacy, of political efforts to reduce tensions.