Iran: Spain expels 15 US aircraft from its military bases

Fifteen US aircraft have left the military bases of “Rota” and “Moron” in southern Spain since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran over the weekend. This is shown by maps on the flight tracking website FlightRadar24, reports “Reuters”.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said that Spain would not allow its military bases, which are jointly run with the US but under Spanish sovereignty, to be used to attack Iran.

At least seven of the aircraft moved to the “Ramstein” air base in Germany.

The UK also initially refused to allow its bases to be used to attack Iran, but yesterday Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized their use for “collective self-defense”.

Spain’s position and the strong condemnation of the US and Israeli actions in Iran by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez once again make it an outsider in the region, which could potentially further strain its relations with Washington.

“Spanish bases are not being used for this operation and will not be used for anything that is not included in the agreement with the United States or for anything that is not in accordance with the UN Charter,” stressed Albarez.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that the planes – mainly aerial refueling tankers, including Boeing KC-135 “Stratotanker” – were permanently stationed in Spain.

FlightRadar24 shows that nine tankers took off yesterday from the Moron air base in southern Spain and headed for Germany.

Two more took off from Rota, a naval base with an airport, to southern France. Four others also departed from Rota, but their route is not shown by FlightRadar24.