THE Spanish government has solidified its position against the US-Israeli war in the Middle East after formally closing the country’s airspace to flights involved in attacks on Iran.
According to military sources cited by newspaper El Pais, Spanish authorities are refusing to grant airspace access to US aircraft used for the war in Iran that are stationed in other third countries, such as the United Kingdom or France.
That means a US military plane travelling from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire towards the Middle East must either travel via France or circumnavigate Spanish airspace around the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic coast, before looping eastwards via the Strait of Gibraltar.
The move doubles down on prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s initial decision taken last month to block American forces from using two jointly-controlled air bases in Andalucia to bomb Iran.
“We have denied the United States the use of the bases at Rota and Moron for this illegal war. All flight plans involving actions related to the operation in Iran have been rejected. All of them, including refuelling aircraft,” Sanchez told parliament on Wednesday.
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At least fifteen US aircraft departed Roto and Morton airbases in southern Spain in late February after the foreign minister said that the bases could not be used for ongoing strikes in the Middle East.
Rota and Moron, located in Cadiz and Sevilla respectively, are shared with the US but fall under Spain’s sovereignty, handing Madrid a veto over any military activity conducted from the bases.
The refusal prompted a furious rant from US president Donald Trump, who made the unprecedented threat to ‘cut off all trade’ with ‘terrible’ Spain over the move.
The most recent veto has a single exception, with aircraft allowed to transit or land in case of emergency.
The Spanish government has also allowed the US to use the airbases for defensive actions, such as US Navy destroyers which have been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to protect Israel from Iranian missile attacks.
Since the conflict began, Sanchez has consistently espoused a ‘No to war!’ message reminiscent of opposition to the Iraq war in 2003.
“No to the unilateral breach of international law. No to repeating the mistakes of the past. No to dressing up as democracy what is really greed and political calculation,” he told parliament last week.
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