NATO says no provision to expel members after Pentagon seeks to punish Spain

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BRUSSELS — NATO says there is no provision for member states to be expelled from the military alliance after a report said the United States was seeking to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support its war against Iran.

Reuters quoted a US official as saying that an internal Pentagon email suggested measures such as suspending Spain from the alliance for failing to back the US-Israeli campaign.

The email also suggested reviewing the US position on the UK's claim to the Falklands islands in the south Atlantic, which are also claimed by Argentina.

Asked whether it is possible to suspend a NATO ally, a NATO official said that "NATO’s Founding Treaty does not foresee any provision for suspension of NATO membership".

Spain's leader has also dismissed the report.

Pedro Sánchez told reporters: "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."

Sánchez added that Spain supported "full cooperation with its allies, but always within the framework of international law."

Pentagon's policy options were detailed in a note expressing frustration at some allies' perceived reluctance or refusal to grant the United States access, basing and overflight rights, known as ABO , for the Iran war, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the email.

The email stated that ABO is "just the absolute baseline for NATO," according to the official, who added that the options were circulating at high levels in the Pentagon.

One option in the email envisions suspending "difficult" countries from important or prestigious positions at NATO, the official said.

Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised NATO allies for their reluctance to play a greater role after the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February and Iran subsequently restricted shipping through the key Strait of Hormuz route.

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 Morón Air Base.

Meanwhile UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has insisted that greater involvement in the war or the current US blockade of Iran's ports is not in the UK's interest. 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.

The UK, France and others have said they would be willing to keep the Strait of Hormuz open after a lasting ceasefire or the end of the war.

Last month Trump said he had always considered NATO to be a "one-way street". "We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us," he wrote.

As possible retaliation for this perceived lack of cooperation, the Pentagon email suggested reassessing American diplomatic support for longstanding European "imperial possessions" such as the Falkland Islands, Reuters quoted the US official as saying.

The Falklands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas, are about 8,000 miles from the UK and about 300 miles from mainland Argentina.

Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the islands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic Ocean. The two countries fought a war over the issue, after Argentine forces invaded the islands in 1982.

The official told Reuters that the memo does not suggest that the US could withdraw from the alliance, nor does it propose closing bases in Europe.

In response to the Reuters report, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said that despite "everything" the US has done for its NATO allies, "they were not there for us".

"The War 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. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect," Wilson said.

The US-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of the 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that the US might not come to the aid of European allies should they be attacked, analysts and diplomats say.