{"id":203910,"date":"2026-03-04T13:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/203910\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T13:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:55:07","slug":"spains-sanchez-says-no-to-war-in-iran-despite-trumps-trade-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/203910\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain’s S\u00e1nchez says ‘no’ to war in Iran despite Trump’s trade threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM and JOSEPH WILSON<\/p>\n

MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a> again criticized the U.S. and Israel\u2019s military actions in Iran, standing firm on Wednesday against trade threats from Washington and warning that the war in the Middle East<\/a> risked \u201cplaying Russian roulette\u201d with millions of lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values \u200b\u200band interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said in a televised address.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump<\/a> on Tuesday threatened to end U.S. trade with Spain<\/a> because of Spain\u2019s refusal to allow the U.S. to use joint military bases in the country in its attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez has called the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran an \u201cunjustifiable\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d military intervention.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear how Trump would cut off trade with Spain, which is a member of the European Union. The EU negotiates trade on behalf of all its 27 member states.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, S\u00e1nchez expressed concern that the attacks on Iran could lead to another costly military quagmire in the Middle East, similar to the past American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn short, the position of the government of Spain can be summarized in four words,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said. \u201cNo to the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EU said Wednesday it would protect its interests and work to stabilize its trade relationship with the U.S, with which it struck a trade deal<\/a> last year after months of economic uncertainty over Trump\u2019s tariff blitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand in full solidarity with all member states and all its citizens and, through our common trade policy, stand ready to act if necessary to safeguard EU interests,\u201d said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill.<\/p>\n

After Spain denied U.S. use of its bases, Trump on Tuesday said \u201cwe could use their base if we want,\u201d referencing the Rota and Mor\u00f3n installations in southern Spain that the U.S. and Spain share, but which remain under Spanish command. \u201cWe could just fly in and use it,\u201d Trump said. \u201cNobody\u2019s going to tell us not to use it, but we don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s threats from Washington were just the latest instance of the U.S. president wielding the threat of tariffs or trade embargoes as punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court last month struck down Trump\u2019s far-reaching global tariffs<\/a>, saying emergency powers do not allow the president to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs.<\/p>\n

However, Trump maintains that the court allows him to instead impose full-scale embargoes on other nations of his choosing.<\/p>\n

\"Spain'sSpain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)<\/p>\n

Spain has not had any direct contact with the U.S. since Trump\u2019s criticisms, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to send a message of calm,\u201d Cuerpo told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. \u201cBeyond those comments (by Trump), there have not been any more moves (by the U.S.).\u201d<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s main business groups expressed concerns over the U.S. trade threat, calling the U.S. a \u201ckey partner from an economic and political standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trust that our trade relations will ultimately not be affected in any way,\u201d the Spanish business chambers CEOE, CEPYME and ATA said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Last year, Spain\u2019s central bank issued a report that concluded Europe\u2019s fourth-largest economy was relatively cushioned compared to the EU average when it came to exposure to tariffs by Trump.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s exports and imports with the U.S. accounted for 4.4% of GDP, the Bank of Spain said, while trade with the U.S. for the EU as a whole was 10.1%.<\/p>\n

\"Spain'sSpain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Michael Probst)<\/p>\n

Exports of Spanish goods to the U.S. accounted for 1% of Spain\u2019s GDP, or $18.6 billion, making it Spain\u2019s sixth largest export market for goods, the bank concluded. The Southern European nation\u2019s main exports to the U.S. include pharmaceutical products, olive oil refined gas and electrical transformers, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s position on the Iran conflict is the latest flare-up in its relationship with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Spain was an outspoken critic of Israel\u2019s war in Gaza and attracted Trump\u2019s ire last year when it backed out of NATO\u2019s pledge<\/a> to increase defense spending by members to 5% of GDP. At the time, Spain said it could meet its estimated defense needs by spending less \u2014 just 2.1% of its GDP \u2014 a move that Trump roundly criticized and also threatened with tariffs in response.<\/p>\n

Wilson reported from Barcelona. Associated Press journalist Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By SUMAN NAISHADHAM and JOSEPH WILSON MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez again criticized the U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[11022,74,76,75,35345,3236,1519,94444],"class_list":["post-203910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-spain","tag-trade","tag-trump","tag-us-iran-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}