MADRID (AP) — A diplomatic tussle between the United States and Spain over the war in Iran intensified on Wednesday when the governments exchanged contradictory statements over the possible use of Spanish military bases by American armed forces for operations in the Middle East.
Moments after a White House spokesperson said the Spanish government in Madrid had agreed to help the U.S., Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares came out and flatly denied that the European government had changed its position.
“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.”
The disagreement broke out on Tuesday when Trump said that he was going to “ cut off all trade with Spain,” a day after Albares said that his government wouldn’t allow the U.S. to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the U.N. charter. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that his government wouldn’t “be complicit in something that is bad for the world.”
Albares denied that his government had reconsidered its posture on the use of the bases on Wednesday evening in Madrid shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said “with respect to Spain, I think they heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear.
“And it’s my understanding over the past several hours, they’ve agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military,” Leavitt had said. “And so I know that the U.S. military is coordinating with their counterparts in Spain.”