The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has confirmed that Spanish military bases have not been used “at all” in the United States and Israel operation in Iran.
“From the information I have, not at all,” was the minister’s response when asked in an interview on TVE about whether the bases in Rota (Cádiz) and Morón de la Frontera (Seville) had served as support in the operation.
Albares has explained that the military bases of joint use and Spanish sovereignty are not going to be used “for anything” that is not included in the treaty, “which has a perimeter and outside that perimeter they are not going to be used”, nor are they going to be used outside the principles of the UN Charter.
Two US ships deployed in Rota participated in the operation
The minister’s response comes after The Country and The World published this Sunday that two American ships and several planes deployed at the Rota military base had participated in the US and Israeli operation in Iran.
Specifically, the information speaks of two ships, the ‘USS Roosevelt’ and the ‘USS Bulkeley’ -with around 250 crew members each-, who had moved to the Eastern Mediterranean as part of the naval deployment, according to US military sources.
The Country He says that, although he does not know the specific mission they had carried out, military sources assure that they would have dedicated themselves to reinforcing the “Iron Dome of Israel” and neutralizing the ballistic missiles launched by Iran.
“Dangerous” operation and without “fit” in the UN
The minister has also confirmed that he will warn this Sunday at the extraordinary meeting of EU Foreign Ministers that the military escalation in the Middle East “is very dangerous” and that it has no legal coverage “nor does it fit” into the United Nations Charter: “War is not the way,” he said.
Albares has indicated that he will defend the Spanish position of rejection of the attacks – as the President of the Government already confirmed this Saturday. Violence “never brings peace and democracy, only chaos,” said the minister, who stressed that this is the position he will argue in the Council.
This “does not mean” that Spain does not “strongly” condemn the Iranian regime and that it sees the violation of the rights of Iranians, especially women, as “unacceptable”, but that does not mean it does not mean rejecting the path of war.
The 30,000 Spaniards who are in the Middle East are fine and there are no injuries
Furthermore, the minister has confirmed that the 30,000 Spaniards currently in the Middle East region are well and no one has been injured in the attacks.
“No Spaniards are injured, and, of course, there are no deaths, they are fine,” said Albares after holding a telematic meeting with the fifteen ambassadors in the region, of whom he highlighted the professionalism of all, especially the staff of the Embassy in Tehran, who are working “in very difficult circumstances.”
Regarding the possible evacuation, he explained that all embassies have an evacuation plan planned if circumstances require it, but he said that the conditions are very different in each country because it is not the same whether they have open or closed airspace or whether there are even bombings.
