{"id":11254,"date":"2026-04-24T19:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/11254\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T19:25:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:25:55","slug":"pentagon-e-mail-floats-suspending-spain-from-nato-punishing-allies-over-iran-rift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/11254\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon e-mail floats suspending Spain from NATO, punishing allies over Iran rift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Spanish soldiers take part in Exercise Dynamic Mariner 25 military drill training, which involves naval forces from several NATO members, at Retin beach, in the Atlantic Ocean, in Barbate, Spain, in March, 2025.Jon Nazca\/Reuters<\/p>\n

An internal Pentagon e-mail outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the U.S. position on Britain\u2019s claim to the Falkland Islands, a U.S. official told Reuters.<\/p>\n

The policy options are detailed in a note prepared by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon\u2019s top policy adviser, who expressed frustration at some allies\u2019 perceived reluctance or refusal to grant the United States access, basing and overflight rights \u2013 known as ABO \u2013 for the Iran war, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the e-mail.<\/p>\n

Colby wrote that ABO is \u201cjust the absolute baseline for NATO,\u201d according to the official, who added that the options were circulating at high levels in the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

One option in the e-mail envisions suspending \u201cdifficult\u201d countries from important or prestigious positions at NATO, the official said.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has harshly criticized NATO allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping following the start of the air war on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

EU to prepare blueprint for mutual assistance pact, amid doubts over U.S. commitment to NATO<\/a><\/p>\n

He has also declared he is considering withdrawing from the alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t you if you were me?\u201d Trump asked Reuters in an April 1 interview, in response to a question about whether the U.S. pulling out of NATO was a possibility.<\/p>\n

But the e-mail does not suggest that the United States do so, the official said. It also does not propose closing bases in Europe.<\/p>\n

The official declined to say whether the options included a widely expected U.S. drawdown of some forces from Europe, however.<\/p>\n

Asked for comment on the e-mail, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded: \u201cAs President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump has harshly criticized NATO allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Trump administration sees European \u2018sense of entitlement\u2019<\/p>\n

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of the 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that the U.S. might not come to the aid of European allies should they be attacked, analysts and diplomats say.<\/p>\n

Britain, France and others say that joining the U.S. naval blockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.<\/p>\n

But Trump administration officials have stressed that NATO cannot be a one-way street.<\/p>\n

They have expressed frustration with Spain, where the Socialist leadership said it would not allow its bases or airspace to be used to attack Iran. The United States has two important military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota and Mor\u00f3n Air Base.<\/p>\n

Trump meets NATO chief Rutte after suggesting U.S. could leave military alliance<\/a><\/p>\n

The policy options outlined in the e-mail would be intended to send a strong signal to NATO allies with the goal of \u201cdecreasing the sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans,\u201d the official said, summarizing the e-mail.<\/p>\n

The option to suspend Spain from the alliance would have a limited effect on U.S. military operations but a significant symbolic impact, the e-mail argues.<\/p>\n

The official did not disclose how the United States might pursue suspending Spain from the alliance, and Reuters could not immediately determine whether there was an existing mechanism at NATO to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not work off e-mails. We work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States,\u201d Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said when asked about the report ahead of a meeting of European Union leaders in Cyprus to discuss topics including NATO\u2019s mutual assistance clause.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Asked whether it is possible to suspend a NATO ally, a NATO official said that ‘NATO\u2019s Founding Treaty does not foresee any provision for suspension of NATO membership.’Toby Melville\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Position on Falkland Islands could be reconsidered<\/p>\n

The memo also includes an option to consider reassessing U.S. diplomatic support for longstanding European \u201cimperial possessions,\u201d such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.<\/p>\n

The State Department\u2019s website states that the islands are administered by the United Kingdom but are still claimed by Argentina, whose libertarian President Javier Milei is a Trump ally.<\/p>\n

Milei was upbeat about the prospects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing everything humanly possible so that the Argentine Malvinas, the islands, the entire territory return to the hands of Argentina,\u201d Milei said in a radio interview he posted on his X account on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making progress like never before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the sovereignty of the islands rests with Britain.<\/p>\n

Pentagon refuses to reaffirm NATO commitment, says it\u2019s up to Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSovereignty rests with the U.K. and the islands\u2019 right to self-determination is paramount. It\u2019s been our consistent position and will remain the case,\u201d the spokesperson told reporters on Friday.<\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly insulted Starmer, calling him cowardly because of his unwillingness to join the U.S. war with Iran, saying he was \u201cNo Winston Churchill\u201d and describing Britain\u2019s aircraft carriers as \u201ctoys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britain initially did not grant a request from the U.S. to allow its aircraft to attack Iran from two British bases, but later agreed to allow defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens, amid Iranian retaliation.<\/p>\n

Addressing reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said \u201ca lot has been laid bare\u201d by the war with Iran, noting that Iran\u2019s longer-range missiles cannot hit the United States but can reach Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get questions, or roadblocks, or hesitations … You don\u2019t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,\u201d Hegseth said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Spanish soldiers take part in Exercise Dynamic Mariner 25 military drill training, which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6970,6961,6971,695,6956,6972,3937,6955,6966,6967,6963,6957,6954,371,859,197,6965,6960,6983,6958,6959,593,6962,1957,697,6973,2998,6978,6979,6981,6976,6980,6974,6977,804,6968,6969,24,6233,6975,17,2735,3043,357,6964,738,394,6982],"class_list":{"0":"post-11254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-northwest-territories","38":"tag-nova-scotia","39":"tag-nunavut","40":"tag-ontario","41":"tag-pei","42":"tag-photos","43":"tag-political-news","44":"tag-political-opinion","45":"tag-politics","46":"tag-politics-news","47":"tag-quebec","48":"tag-spain","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}