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Pentagon Memo Outlines Punitive Measures Against Spain and UK Over Iran War Response
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An internal Pentagon email outlines unprecedented options for the United States to punish NATO allies for failing to support US operations in the war with Iran, Reuters reported on April 24.
The policy note, prepared by the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, Elbridge Colby, expressed significant frustration over some allies refusing to grant base access and overflight rights. The email has circulated at high levels and suggests suspending “difficult” countries from prestigious NATO positions to decrease the Europeans' “sense of entitlement.”
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US President Donald Trump has heavily criticized NATO members for not deploying their navies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping after the air war began on February 28. While Trump recently floated the idea of withdrawing from the alliance entirely, Reuters reported that the leaked email does not propose a US exit or base closures in Europe.
One of the most consequential options detailed in the memo involves attempting to suspend Spain from the alliance. Spanish Socialist leadership has notably refused to allow US military bases in Rota and Morón, or its airspace, to be used for offensive strikes against Iran. In response to the leak, a NATO official clarified that the bloc’s founding treaty contains no mechanism for suspending a member state.
The Pentagon email also suggests reconsidering US diplomatic support for British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands to pressure the United Kingdom, according to Reuters. Argentine President and Trump ally Javier Milei responded enthusiastically to the news, while a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted that the islands' right to self-determination remains absolute.
Britain, France, and other European nations have argued that joining the US naval blockade would essentially force them to enter the war. However, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Reuters that the War Department is actively developing credible options to ensure allies “are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part.”
The Pentagon’s punitive options align with Trump’s increasing animosity toward the military bloc. Trump had previously expressed “disgust” with NATO, calling the 1949 pact a “one-way street” and confirming he is “absolutely” considering withdrawing because European allies “haven’t been friends when we needed them.”
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