Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday refused to be drawn into a dispute with the United States over reports that the Pentagon is weighing whether to punish members of NATO that fail to support American operations in the Iran war.
Among those in the firing line is Spain, which has refused to allow US forces involved in the war to use bases on its territory or airspace.
Spain says that US-Israeli actions in the Iran war contravenes international law.
France and the UK also refuse to give US forces free rein to use their territory for the bombing campaign.
The Pentagon is reported to be mulling whether to suspend Spain from NATO, according to an unidentified US official referring to a US Defense Department email, and quoted by the Reuters news agency.
“Well, we do not work with emails,” Sánchez told reporters at a European Union summit in Cyprus.
“We work with official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the government of the United States.”
“The position of the government of Spain is clear: absolute collaboration with the allies, but always within the framework of international legality,” he said.
The email also suggested reassessing US support for the United Kingdom’s claim to the Falkland Islands, near Argentina, which are also known as Islas Malvinas.
Dave Pares, a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said the UK position on the islands is “longstanding and it’s unchanged: Sovereignty rests with the UK, and the islanders’ right to self-determination is paramount.”
Pares noted “the Falkland Islands have previously voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory.”
