Spain rips into Trump, Netanyahu warmongering in Middle East
Showing extraordinary courage, Spain has rejected Donald Trump’s repeated call to join the US-Israeli military operation against Iran, categorically asserting that the war is not good for the world.
[Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (File Image)]
Showing extraordinary courage, Spain has rejected Donald Trump’s repeated call to join the US-Israeli military operation against Iran, categorically asserting that the war is not good for the world.
On Wednesday, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez defiantly posted “No to the war”, and refused the use of its bases to attack Iran.
Pedro Sanchez’s stern rejection came even as Donald Trump announced to cut all trade contracts with Spain, and even threatened to impose tariffs.
"Spain has been terrible," Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, adding that he had told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off all dealings" with Spain.
"We're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain," he added.
Pedro Sanchez defended his position saying his government’s position “can be summed up in four words: no to the war.” He also said “fear of retaliation” would not change his country’s stance.
“We will not be complicit in something that is harmful to the world and contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of retaliation,” Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister said in a televised address.
EU lends support
European Council Chief Antonio Costa wrote on X that he had called Sanchez to “express the EU’s full solidarity with Spain.”
“The EU will always ensure that the interests of its member states are fully protected,” Costa said.
French President Emmanuel Macron also called to “express France’s European solidarity in response to the recent threats of economic coercion targeting Spain,” his office said.
Spain is part of the European Union, which allows goods to move freely between its 27 countries. This would complicate any bid to impose trade restrictions on a single member state.
US bases in Spain
US forces use the Rota naval base and Moron air base in southern Spain under an agreement signed in 1953 under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. The U.S. relocated 15 aircraft, including refuelling tankers, from the Rota and Moron military bases after Spain's rejection to allow use of its bases against Iran, according to Reuters.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Spain, then led by conservative prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, staunchly backed the United States by sending troops.
Spain’s participation in the Iraq war sparked huge street demonstrations and many Spaniards blame it for the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed nearly 200 people.
Sanchez, who was also critical of Netanyahu’s Genocidal War in Gaza, compared the Iran attacks to the Iraq war, which he said increased terrorism, increased energy prices and led to a less secure world.
“We oppose this disaster,” he said in reference to the Iran war.
Also on Wednesday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares denied that the government had changed its position on supporting the U.S. military operations against Iran, contradicting a White House spokesperson.
“I can refute (the White House spokesperson),” Albares told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. “The position of the Spanish government regarding the war in the Middle East, the bombing of Iran and the use of our bases has not changed one iota.”
Albares spoke in Madrid shortly after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had said that Spain had changed its position and “they’ve agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military.”
Spain also said the US should be mindful of international law and bilateral trade agreements with the European Union
“We have the necessary resources to contain the possible impact of the trade embargo by the US,” the Spanish government said in a statement on Tuesday.
But not all EU members are against US. Germany is openly supporting the war against Iran whereas Spain's neighbor Portugal authorized the United States, though “conditionally”, to use an air base on the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean for the Iran strikes, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro told parliament on Wednesday.
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