Soon after the White House said that Spain had agreed to join Washington in its operations in the Middle East, Spain has denied the claim, news agency AFP reported.
Spain’s denial came minutes after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing on Wednesday (local time) said that it agreed to ‘cooperate with the US military. “I think they heard Trump’s message yesterday loud and clear. They have agreed to cooperate with the US military. The US military is coordinating with their counterparts in Spain,” Leavitt said.
Earlier on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump threatened to snap all trade ties with Spain following Spanish minister José Manuel Albares’s statement that his country wouldn’t allow the US to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the UN charter.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also criticised the US and Israel’s military actions in Iran, as he warned that the war in the Middle East risked “playing Russian roulette” with millions of lives.
“We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,” Sánchez said in a televised address, the Associated Press reported.
