3 min readApr 25, 2026 11:56 AM IST
Nato has said there is no provision for member states to be suspended or expelled from the military alliance after a report said the US could seek to suspend Spain over its Iran war stance. News agency Reuters quoted a US official who said an internal Pentagon email had suggested measures for the US to “punish allies” it believed had failed to support its military campaign.
The email also suggested reviewing the US’s position on the UK’s claim to the Falklands islands in the south Atlantic, which are also claimed by Argentina.
A Nato official was quoted by the BBC as saying that the alliance’s founding treaty “does not foresee any provision for suspension of Nato membership, or expulsion”. A German government spokesperson also said Spain’s membership was not in question. “Spain is a member of Nato. And I see no reason why that should change,” the spokesperson said during a regular news conference in Berlin, reported BBC.
Spain’s leader has also dismissed the report.
Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told the BBC that despite “everything” the US has done for its Nato allies, “they were not there for us”. She added: “The War Department [defence department] will ensure that the president has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part.”
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his discontent at US’s Nato allies over their reluctance to play a greater role after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran subsequently restricted shipping through the key Strait of Hormuz route.
Spain’s stand on Iran war
Spain has refused to allow the use of air bases on its territory for attacks on Iran. The US has two military bases in Spain, Naval Station Rota and Morn Air Base. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was quoted as saying by BBC: “We do not work based on emails. We work with official documents and official positions taken, in this case, by the government of the United States.”
Sanchez added that Spain supported “full co-operation with its allies, but always within the framework of international law”.
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Greater involvement in Hormuz not in UK’s interest: Starmer
The UK has allowed the US to use British bases to launch strikes on Iranian sites targeting the Strait of Hormuz and RAF planes have taken part in missions to shoot down Iranian drones. However, at the same time, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has maintained that a “greater involvement” in the war or the current US blockade of Iran’s ports is not in the UK’s interest.
The UK, France and others have said they would be willing to keep the Strait of Hormuz, a global oil shipping route, open after a lasting ceasefire or the end of the war.
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