Madrid: Spain continued to oppose the US-Israel led strikes on Iran a couple of days after it denied permission to the US to use its soil for military operations against the Islamic republic.
The West Asia conflict risked playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of millions, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday, as reported by Reuters.
“This is how humanity’s great disasters start … You cannot play Russian roulette with destiny of millions,” Sanchez said in his address to the Spanish people, ANI reported.
“The position of the Spanish government can be summarized in four words: ‘No to the war.’ We’re not going to be complicit in something that’s bad for the world nor contrary to our values and interests simply to avoid reprisals from someone,” Sanchez added.
US president Donald Trump, while addressing a news conference alongside the German chancellor, on Tuesday, had said he had asked US treasury secretary Scott Bessent to stop all dealings with Spain.
“Some of the European nations have been helpful, and some haven’t–and I’m very surprised. Germany’s been great… Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told Scott to cut off all dealings with Spain,” Trump said, adding, “By the way, I’m not happy with the UK either.”
While claiming that US strikes had severely degraded Iran’s capabilities, Trump asserted: “We’ve had a very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out now. Their missile count is going way down. Amazingly, they’re hitting countries that were neutral. They lived together for a long time… Those countries are all fighting against them… They (Iran) no longer have air protection. They no longer have any detection facilities at all. They’re going to be in for a lot of hurt. These are bad people.”
Spain, however, refused to buckle under the US threat. The country had earlier criticised the US and Israeli bombings of Iran, calling them reckless and illegal. Sanchez had also banned US aircraft from using naval and air bases in southern Spain for the offensive against Tehran.
