Khaberni - Spain hastened to deny the accuracy of the statements issued by the White House on Wednesday, confirming that its stance of rejecting participation in strikes on Iran has not changed.
After a day of President Donald Trump suggesting a trade embargo on Madrid for refusing to allow American planes to use joint naval and air bases in southern Spain for operations against Iran; White House spokeswoman Caroline today said "Spain has changed its stance and agreed to cooperate with the US military".
She added, “Regarding Spain, I believe they fully understood President Trump's message yesterday (Tuesday). As I understand it, they agreed in the last few hours to cooperate with the US military, so I know that the US military is coordinating with its counterparts in Spain”.
In response to those statements, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares quickly denied their accuracy, confirming that his country’s government’s stance on supporting US military operations against Iran has not changed.
Albares said to the Spanish radio station “Cadena SER”, “I can refute the statement of the White House spokesperson; the position of the Spanish government regarding the war in the Middle East, bombing Iran, and using our bases; has not changed at all”.
Russian Roulette
Earlier on Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed that his government would “not collude in anything that harms the world”.
Sánchez again criticized the American and Israeli military operations in Iran, reaffirming his firm stance against trade threats from Washington, warning that the war in the Middle East endangers the lives of millions, like “playing Russian roulette”.
Sánchez said in a televised speech on Wednesday: “We will not collude in anything that harms the world and conflicts with our values and interests, simply out of fear of retaliatory reactions”.
Sánchez, who is widely considered the last prominent progressive leader in Europe, described the American and Israeli attacks on Iran as “unjustified” and "dangerous" military interventions.
He expressed his concerns that the attacks on Iran could lead to another costly military quagmire in the Middle East, similar to previous American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sánchez said: “In short, the position of the Spanish government can be summed up in two words: no to war”.
Trade threats
Trump threatened on Tuesday to cut all trade ties with Spain, following the statement from the Spanish Foreign Minister that his country would not allow the United States to use the joint bases - in southern Spain - in any strikes not under the United Nations charter.
After Spain refused the US use of its bases, Trump said on Tuesday: “We can use their bases if we want to”, referring to the Rota and Morón bases in southern Spain, which are shared by the United States and Spain but still under Spanish command.
Trump said: “We could simply access them and use them. No one will stop us from using them, but we don’t have to”.
The European Union negotiates trade on behalf of all its 27 member states.
When asked today in an interview with "NBC" whether it was possible to impose a trade embargo on Spain, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent said: "It would be a joint effort".
The US Secretary did not provide further details, but he indicated that Spain's refusal to allow the United States to use its bases during the attack on Iran endangered the lives of Americans.
Bisent said: “Anything that slows our ability to wage this war and pursue it in a faster and more efficient way endangers the lives of Americans. The Spaniards have endangered the lives of Americans”.
For its part, the European Union announced that it will protect its interests and work to stabilize its trade relations with the United States, with whom it signed a trade agreement last year, after months of economic uncertainty due to Trump’s tariff campaign.
A spokesperson for the European Commission, Olof Gill, said: “We stand in full solidarity with all member states and all their citizens, and through our common trade policy, we are ready to act if necessary to protect the interests of the European Union”.
Leading business groups in Spain expressed concern about the trade threat, describing the United States as a “primary partner economically and politically”.
Yesterday, the Spanish Chambers of Commerce said: “We are confident that our trade relations will not be affected in any way”.
The Bank of Spain reported that Spain's exports and imports from the United States accounted for 4.4% of GDP, while trade with the United States for the European Union as a whole was 10.1%.
The bank mentioned that Spanish goods exports to the United States accounted for 1% of Spain's GDP, equivalent to 16 billion euros (18.6 billion dollars), making it the sixth largest export market for Spanish goods.
