U.S. aircraft leave Spanish bases after government ban
Fifteen U.S. military aircraft have departed from the Rota and Morón bases in southern Spain after Madrid blocked the use of its territory for strikes on Iran, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Spain would not permit its jointly operated bases to be used for attacks not covered by bilateral agreements or international law.
“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,” Albares told Telecinco.
Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 showed nine aerial refuelling tankers, including Boeing KC 135 Stratotankers, departing Morón air base toward Germany, with several aircraft landing at Ramstein Air Base. Additional flights left the Rota naval base.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez strongly criticized the U.S.-Israeli military action. Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, he called for an “immediate de-escalation” and described the attack as “unilateral” and a “breach of international law.”
“It is possible to be against a hateful regime, as Spanish society as a whole is against the Iranian regime, and at the same time be against an unjustified, dangerous military intervention that is outside international law,” Sanchez said.
He added: “One must be against a war that was started without the authorization of the U.S. Congress or the UN Security Council and, as I said before, violates international law.”
Albares echoed the call for diplomacy, stating: “The role of the European Union must be to call for de-escalation, a return to dialogue, easing of tensions, diplomacy and negotiation, because through violence we will achieve neither stability, nor democracy, nor peace.”
Spain’s position has exposed divisions within the European Union, as several member states voiced support for military action while others urged restraint.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that French President Emmanuel Macron had announced a major shift in France’s nuclear doctrine, pledging to strengthen deterrence amid what he described as a deteriorating global security environment.