Rubio hits Spain for closing airspace to US planes amid war
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused America’s Nato allies of abandoning the United States in an hour of need, adopting Donald Trump’s hostile rhetoric toward the alliance.
Rubio complained bitterly that Nato ally Spain had barred US planes involved in the war against Iran from overflying its airspace. Rubio has generally been supportive of Nato even as Trump has lashed out against alliance members for not stepping up during the war.
But on Monday he let loose, alleging in an interview with Al Jazeera that Spain’s leftist leaders are “bragging” about cutting off its airspace even as the United States has pledged to defend their country.
He said the alliance is useful for the United States because it allows America to station troops and equipment in Europe, “but if Nato is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked but then denying us basing rights when we need them, that’s not a very good arrangement.”
Closed airspace
Spain has closed Spanish airspace to US planes carrying out missions against Iran, in addition to denying Washington use of its bases, officials said on Monday.
“The bases are not authorized, and of course neither is the use of Spanish airspace for actions related to the war in Iran,” Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles told journalists, confirming a report by El Pais daily.
Spain’s refusal to cooperate has “complicated” US military operations by forcing bombers to change their routes and logistics on their way to the Middle East, El Pais reported.
The transit or landing of planes is allowed only in case of an emergency, the newspaper said.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has emerged as the highest-profile Western leader to consistently oppose the war, launched by US-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28 and which has since engulfed the entire Middle East.
Gulf allies back war
Spain had already sparked Trump’s anger by refusing to agree to raise Nato defense spending to 5 percent of member states’ gross domestic product as demanded by the US president.
Meanwhile, Gulf allies of the United States, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran hasn’t been weakened enough by the monthlong US-led bombing campaign, according to US, Gulf and Israeli officials.
After private grumbling at the start of the war that they were not given adequate advance notice of the US-Israeli attack and complaining the United States had ignored their warnings that the war would have devastating consequences for the entire region, some of the regional allies are making the case to the White House that the moment offers a historic opportunity to cripple Tehran’s clerical rule once and for all.
Officials from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain have conveyed in private conversations that they do not want the military operation to end until there are significant changes in the Iranian leadership or there’s a dramatic shift in Iranian behavior, according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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