{"id":416213,"date":"2026-04-25T02:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T02:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416213\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T02:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T02:40:08","slug":"pentagon-email-floats-suspending-spain-from-nato-over-iran-rift-source-says-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416213\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon email floats suspending Spain from Nato over Iran rift, source says \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish Nato<\/a> allies it believes failed to support US operations \u200cin the war with Iran<\/a>, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the US<\/a> position on Britain\u2019s claim to the Falkland Islands, a US official told Reuters.<\/p>\n

The policy options are detailed in a note expressing frustration at some allies\u2019 perceived reluctance or refusal \u200bto 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 email.<\/p>\n

The email stated 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 email envisions suspending \u201cdifficult\u201d countries from important or prestigious positions at Nato, the official said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks, says TrumpOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has harshly criticised Nato allies for not sending their navies to \u200bhelp open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping following the start of the air war on February 28th.<\/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 1st interview, \u2060in response to a question about whether the US pulling out of Nato was a possibility.<\/p>\n

But the email does not suggest the United States do so, the official said. It \u200calso \u200cdoes \u200bnot propose closing bases in Europe.<\/p>\n

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

Asked for comment on the email, 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 \u2060there for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war department will ensure that the president has credible options to ensure \u200bthat our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have \u200bno further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

The US-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of the 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that \u200cthe US might not come to the aid of European allies should they \u200bbe attacked, analysts and diplomats say.<\/p>\n

Britain, France and others say that joining the US naval blockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the strait open \u2060once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.<\/p>\n

But Trump administration officials have \u2060stressed that Nato cannot be a one-way street.<\/p>\n

They have \u200bexpressed 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

The policy options outlined in the email 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, summarising the email.<\/p>\n

The option to suspend Spain from the alliance would have a limited effect on US military operations but a significant symbolic impact, the email 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

The memo also includes an option to consider reassessing US diplomatic support for long-standing European \u201cimperial possessions\u201d such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.<\/p>\n

The state department\u2019s website says the \u200cislands are administered by the United Kingdom but are \u2060still claimed by Argentina, whose libertarian president Javier Milei is a Trump ally.<\/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 Argentinian soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.<\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly insulted British prime minister Keir Starmer, calling him cowardly because of his unwillingness to join \u200cthe US war with Iran, saying he was \u201cNo Winston Churchill\u201d. <\/p>\n

Addressing reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month, defence secretary Pete Hegseth said \u201ca \u200blot 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

\u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish Nato allies it believes failed to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[969,42,150432,25717,1194,43,3026,26574,2846,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-416213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-israel-iran-conflict","11":"tag-javier-milei","12":"tag-keir-starmer","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-north-atlantic-treaty-organisation-nato","15":"tag-pete-hegseth","16":"tag-spain","17":"tag-top-news","18":"tag-top-stories","19":"tag-topnews","20":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}