Spain rejects US claim that it agreed to cooperate amid war with Iran

Spain has rejected the White House’s claim that it agreed to cooperate militarily with Washington amid the conflict with Iran, doubling down on its pacifist stance despite the US president’s threat to cut trade ties.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Madrid’s position on refusing to allow the country’s military bases to be used in the ongoing war against Iran had changed.

“With respect to Spain, I think they heard the president’s message loud and clear yesterday, and I understand that over the last few hours they have agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military,” Leavitt told reporters.

“The president expects all of our European allies, of course, to cooperate in this long-sought mission, not only by the United States but also by Europe, to crush the rogue Iranian regime.”

Spain, however, quickly and “categorically” rejected Leavitt’s claim.

“The Spanish government’s position on the war in the Middle East… and the use of our bases has not changed at all,” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told private radio station Cadena Ser, according to Reuters.

The chaotic messages between two NATO allies come shortly after US President Donald Trump vowed to cut all trade with Madrid, called Spain “terrible” and repeated his criticism of Spanish defense spending.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez responded Wednesday by describing the growing Middle East crisis as a “disaster” and summed up his government’s position in just three words: “No to war.”

Sánchez has become one of the European Union’s leading critics of the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, and has also been an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Arancha González, Spain’s former foreign minister, told CNBC on Thursday that Trump’s attacks on Sánchez are not the first time the US president has criticized a European leader.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen have previously been singled out by Trump.

“What do they all have in common? They have said ‘no’ or they have questioned the motives of the American president,” González said. He added that political leaders who stood their ground were more likely to be in a better position in the long term.

González, who now serves as dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) at Sciences Po, also issued a warning to Washington over Trump’s threat to cut trade ties with Madrid.

“Let me say that it would be foolish for the United States to impose a trade embargo on a country with which it has a trade surplus. The United States has a trade surplus with Spain. President Trump always complains about unbalanced trade relations. Well, here is a great trade relationship in which he wins,” González told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” program on Thursday.

Trump’s threat to punish Spain on trade is believed to be a difficult prospect to fulfill, given that the 27 EU countries negotiate trade deals collectively.

“Spain does not have an autonomous trade policy. Spain’s trade policy is the trade policy of the European Union,” said González. “Let’s stay calm and cool. This is not the first time we have seen threats of this type.”

Spain ibex 35 index It was the best-performing stock among Europe’s major bourses on Thursday morning, up around 0.5%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 IndexMeanwhile, it was last up 0.2%.