Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez doubled down on his refusal to become involved in the Iran conflict and rebuked U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off trade with Spain as a form of punishment.
“The position of the Government of Spain can be summed up in three words,” said Sánchez in a televised address Wednesday morning. “No to war.”
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Sánchez argued Europe has been in a similar situation before, referring to the negative impact of the Iraq war. “We must not repeat the mistakes of the past,” he urged.
“Twenty-three years ago, another U.S. Administration dragged us into a war in the Middle East,” he said. “A war which, in theory, was said at the time to be waged to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, to bring democracy, and to guarantee global security but.. it unleashed the greatest wave of insecurity that our continent had suffered since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
In a message shared after his address, Sánchez reiterated his stance, saying “no to violations of international law” and “no to the illusion that we can solve the world’s problems with bombs.”
Sánchez had the support of his colleagues, with Budget Minister María Jesús Montero adding that Spain “will not be vassals” to another country.
The strong response from the European nation comes after Trump posed economic threats during a press briefing at the White House Tuesday alongside visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Reflecting on the U.S.-Israeli military action against Iran, which killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Trump heralded the success of the operation and vowed to keep moving forward. But he hit out at some European allies, including Spain, for denying the U.S. access to their military bases.
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“Spain has been terrible. I told Scott [Bessent, Treasury Secretary] to cut off all dealings with Spain,” he said, threatening to impose an economic punishment. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
“Spain said we can’t use their bases. We could use their bases if we wanted to, we could just fly in and use it, nobody is going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to,” Trump argued. “Spain has absolutely nothing we need, other than great people, but they don’t have great leadership.”
He also faulted Spain for failing to commit to increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP under NATO targets.
Trump’s criticism extended to other nations, as he accused the United Kingdom of being “uncooperative.”
“We are very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” he said, referencing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
While Starmer initially refused to allow Trump to use British bases to launch defensive missiles, he reversed course on Sunday evening, announcing Britain will grant access to the U.S. military.