Pentagon email obtained by Reuters reveals US anger at Spain, UK as Iran war tensions persist.
An email has circulated within the United States Defense Department laying out potential measures the US could take against NATO allies it believes have not sufficiently supported its war on Iran, such as Spain and the United Kingdom, according to a US official quoted by the Reuters news agency.
The internal email considers options such as suspending Spain from NATO and re-evaluating Washington’s stance on the British Falkland Islands, which are also claimed by Argentina, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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The email, which alleges “a sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans”, is intended as a signal to NATO partners, according to the official.
Suspending Spain from the bloc would carry strong symbolic weight with little operational consequence to the US military, the email says.
Asked about the email while at an EU leaders’ meeting in Cyprus on Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Madrid is a “reliable member” of NATO that meets all its obligations.
“As a result, I am absolutely not worried,” he said. “We do not work with emails. We work with official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the government of the US.
“The position of the government of Spain is clear: absolute collaboration with the allies, but always within the framework of international legality.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer hit back, saying the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands is longstanding and “unchanged”.
“Sovereignty rests with the UK and the islands’ right to self-determination is paramount. It’s been our consistent position and will remain the case,” the spokesperson said.
Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentine and 255 British service personnel died before Argentina surrendered.
Asked if Starmer thought the email was an attempt by the US to put pressure on him to join the Iran war, the spokesperson said: “Pressure does not affect him, and he will always act in the national interest, and that will always remain the case.”
‘Baseline for NATO’
US officials have raged at European allies for refusing or hesitating to allow the use of their bases for attacks on Iran.
Spain has refused to let the US wage attacks on Iran from its airspace or bases. Trump called Spain “terrible” and threatened to end all trade with the country.
The US president has also slammed UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “no Winston Churchill” and mocked Britain’s aircraft carriers as “toys” while condemning what he views as insufficient support.
Initially, the UK did not authorise US planes to launch attacks on Iran from two British bases. Starmer later greenlighted their use for what he called “defensive purposes”.
The recent Pentagon email relayed Washington’s frustrations, saying basing and overflight rights should be “just the absolute baseline for NATO”, according to the US official quoted by Reuters.
Trump has also urged NATO countries to deploy their navies to help force open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut off to global shipping for two months.
Trump has called NATO countries “cowards” for not sending their forces to the Strait, and said the 77-year-old military alliance is a “paper tiger” without the US.
The email, however, does not present US withdrawal from NATO – an option Trump has previously suggested – nor the closure of US bases in Europe, the official said.
‘NATO not there for us’
In response to the report, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Reuters: “As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us.”
“The War Department will ensure that the president has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect,” Wilson said.
