An email has circulated within the United States Department of Defense laying out potential measures Washington could take against NATO allies it believes have not sufficiently supported its war on Iran, such as Spain and the United Kingdom, according to a US official quoted by the Reuters news agency. The internal email considers options such as suspending Spain from NATO and re-evaluating Washington’s stance on the British Falkland Islands, which are also claimed by Argentina, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The email, which alleges “a sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans”, is intended as a signal to NATO partners, according to the official. Suspending Spain from the bloc would carry symbolic weight with little operational consequence to the US military, the email says. Asked about the missive while at an EU leaders’ meeting in Cyprus on Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Madrid is a “reliable member” of NATO that meets all its obligations. “I am absolutely not worried,” he said. “We do not work with emails. We work with official documents and positions taken, in this case, by the government of the US. “The position of the government of Spain is clear: Absolute collaboration with the allies, but always within the framework of international legality.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, also attending the Cyprus meeting, said NATO “must remain united”. A German government spokesperson said Spain’s membership in the military alliance was not in question. “Spain is a member of NATO. And I see no reason why that should change,” said the spokesperson. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hit back, saying the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands is “unchanged”. “Sovereignty rests with the UK, and the islands’ right to self-determination is paramount. It’s been our consistent position and will remain the case,” the spokesperson said. The UK and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentinian and 255 British service personnel died before Argentina surrendered. Asked if Starmer thought the email was an attempt by the US to put pressure on him to join the Iran war, the spokesperson said: “Pressure does not affect him, and he will always act in the national interest.”
US officials have long criticized their European allies for refusing or hesitating to allow the use of their bases for attacks on Iran. Spain has refused to let the US wage attacks on Iran from its airspace or bases. Trump called Spain “terrible” and threatened to end all trade with the country. The US president has also slammed Starmer as “no Winston Churchill” and mocked the UK’s aircraft carriers as “toys” while condemning what he views as insufficient support. Initially, the UK did not authorize US planes to launch attacks on Iran from two British bases. Starmer later greenlighted their use for what he called “defensive purposes”. The reported Pentagon email relayed Washington’s frustrations, saying basing and overflight rights should be “just the absolute baseline for NATO”, according to the US official quoted by Reuters. Trump has also urged NATO countries to deploy their navies to help force open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely shut off to global shipping for two months. He has called NATO countries “cowards” for not sending their forces, and said the 77-year-old military alliance is a “paper tiger” without the US.
European-US tensions grew further on Friday, when US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, commenting on the Strait of Hormuz at a news conference, said, “the time for free-riding is over.” “America and the free world deserve allies who are capable, who are loyal and who understand that being an ally is not a one-way street. It’s a two-way street,” said Hegseth. “We are not counting on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do, and [they] might want to do less talking and having less fancy conferences in Europe, and get in a boat. This is much more their fight than ours.” While Trump has previously floated withdrawing the US from NATO, the Pentagon email does not present US withdrawal from the alliance, nor the closure of US bases in Europe, the official told Reuters.
