US President Donald Trump said he will be asking the alliance to become more involved in the region.

President Donald Trump said the United States does not need the oil in the Middle East.

So what about his country's role in the region?

Well, the president is calling on NATO allies to step up their involvement there, which seems to contradict his previous questioning of the alliance's relevance.

Trump has urged its member countries to increase their military spending, yet criticised NATO as obsolete and split with some of its leaders over his decision to pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Now NATO's secretary-general says he agrees with Trump that the alliance should contribute more to the stability of the region.

But given the continuing tension between Tehran and Washington, what is NATO able to offer?

Presenter: Julie McDonald

Guests:

Karen Joy Greenberg - Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University

Fabrice Pothier - Chief strategy officer at Rasmussen Global and a former director of policy planning at NATO

Tallha Abdulrazaq - Researcher at the University of Exeter specialising in Iran, Iraq and Middle Eastern politics

Source: Al Jazeera News