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Spain has rejected Israeli criticism of its position on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with one official describing as “ridiculous” accusations that Madrid is taking Iran’s side.
“The Spanish government, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world, as it stood with Venezuela, is now standing with Iran”, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Sunday in an interview with Euronews’ Europe Today morning show.
Sa’ar criticised Spain’s stance on the war, claiming it is an outlier in Europe.
“I spoke during the last two days with most of the EU foreign affairs ministers and a significant number of them shared the same view. […] They might want it to be successful, but they’re not part of this operation”, Sa’ar said.
Madrid’s Foreign Affairs Minister Manuel Albares answered this accusation in another interview with Europe Today on Monday.
“That is absurd and ridiculous. Spain has a coherent foreign policy,” he said, adding the country is “coherently” implementing its position in relation to conflicts across the world.
‘Violence only generates more violence’
On Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he “rejected the unilateral military action by the United States and Israel” on Iran, claiming it “represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order”.
The following day, Sánchez said in a statement that it is possible “to oppose a hateful regime and, at the same time, oppose an unjustified and dangerous military intervention”, while strongly criticising the actions of the Iranian regime and the Revolutionary Guard.
He has also strongly condemned Iran’s indiscriminate attacks on other Gulf countries, as well as Hezbollah’s launch of missiles towards Israel and Israel’s own raids on Lebanon, insisting that “violence only generates more violence”.
The Spanish government has cemented its reputation as the most critical voice of US President Donald Trump’s interventionist foreign policy in Europe, and one of the firmest critics of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Spain is the only major EU country to have explicitly criticised US-Israeli strikes on Iran, while other European governments have condemned only Iranian attacks on countries in the region.
The EU statement on the developments in Middle East, which was agreed by the High Representative Kaja Kallas and 27 member states, refers to “the protection of civilians and full respect of international law, including the principles of the United Nations Charter, and international humanitarian law”, but does not mention the strikes on Iran that started the escalation.
Albares told state television RTVE that US military bases within Spanish territory have not been used and will not be used to launch strikes on Iran, as this is not in line with the agreement between the two countries and “outside the principle of the United Nations”.
The Iranian embassy in Spain expressed respect for this position, which it said is “in line with international law”.
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