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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has reiterated that his country will not allow the U.S. to use its military bases as part of the joint U.S.-Israel war against Iran, in spite of economic threats from President Donald Trump.
In a 10-minute televised address to the country, Sánchez was straightforward in his response to Trump: “No a la guerra,” he said.
The phrase, which translates to “no to war” in English, was widely used by the anti-war movement in the country in 2003 when its then-conservative government supported the United States’s illegal war in Iraq.
The prime minister said that Spain would “not be complicit in something that is bad for the world — and that is also contrary to our values and interests — simply out of fear of reprisals from someone.”
“You can’t play Russian roulette with the destiny of millions,” he said.
Sánchez, a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, again drew historical parallels, stating that:
The world has been here before. Twenty-three years ago, another U.S. administration led us into an unjust war. The Iraq War generated a dramatic increase in terrorism, a serious migration crisis, and an economic crisis.
“Nobody knows for sure what will happen now,” Sánchez added. “Even the objectives of those who launched the first attack are unclear.”
Sánchez also warned Spanish citizens that they must brace themselves for the consequences of the war on Iran.
“We must be prepared, as the proponents say, for the possibility that this will be a long war, with numerous casualties and, therefore, with serious economic consequences on a global scale,” he said, pointing to the 2003 Iraq War that had “unleashed the greatest wave of insecurity our continent has suffered since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
The prime minister also condemned the US-Israeli war for causing suffering among civilians while “lin[ing] the pockets” of a select few and for other world leaders “to use the smoke screen of war to conceal their failures” – an apparent jab at Trump.
Spain made the decision earlier this week to ban U.S. military forces from using Spanish bases for purposes relating to the war with Iran. The move will prevent aircraft flying from Europe to Iran from refueling their tanks, for example. At least 11 U.S. aircraft left military bases in Spain as a result of the announcement.
“Spanish bases are not being used for this operation, and they will not be used for anything not included in the agreement with the United States or for anything that is not in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Sunday.
In response, Trump claimed he could use Spain’s bases without the country’s permission.
“Spain actually said we can’t use their bases. And that’s all right, we don’t want to do it,” Trump claimed on Tuesday. “We could use the base if we want. We could just fly in and use it, nobody is going to tell us not to use it. But we don’t have to.”
Despite claiming it wasn’t a necessity, Trump nevertheless expressed plans to retaliate through economic means.
“Spain has been terrible, in fact I told [Treasury Secretary] Scott [Bessent] to cut off all dealings with Spain,” Trump said.
“We are going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he added.
While Trump has panned other world leaders over their refusal to back his illegal war in Iran, new polling shows the vast majority of Americans are not supportive of the military operation, either.
A CNN/SSRS survey released earlier this week finds that nearly 6 in 10 Americans (59 percent) are opposed to the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. In separate questioning, 60 percent also said they do not believe Trump has “a clear plan” for how to manage the war.
Top officials in the Trump administration have dismissed comparisons between the Iran War and the Iraq War, like those made by Sánchez, without providing clarification.
“To the media outlets and political left screaming ‘endless wars,’ stop,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Monday. “This is not Iraq. This is not endless. Our generation knows better and so does this president.”
At the same presser, however, Hegseth refused to give a timeline for when the administration could end the war. Trump himself has said the war could last as long as four to five weeks, or even “far longer than that” if he deemed it necessary.
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