An internal Pentagon email has outlined a possible suspension of Spain from NATO, Reuters reported on Friday.
Reuters, citing an unnamed U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity, affirmed that the document, which is “circulating at high levels in the Pentagon,” also describes options that the United States could use to “punish” other NATO members that it believes to have failed to support the United States in the war with Iran — such as reviewing the U.S. position on Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands, long contested by Argentina.
The source claimed that the options allegedly outlined in the email are detailed expressing frustration at the reluctance or refusal from NATO members to grant basing and overflight rights (ABO) to the United States for U.S. military operation on Iran. ABO, the official said, is stated in the email as “just the absolute baseline for NATO.”
Suspending Spain from NATO, the email reportedly argued, would have a limited effect on U.S. military operations but a “significant symbolic impact.”
Per the source, the Pentagon email does not suggest a U.S. withdrawal from NATO, nor does it propose closing down bases in Europe. The source reportedly declined to comment on whether the options included a U.S. forces drawdown from Europe.
Commander of NATO Naval Component of the Response Forces, Spanish Rear Admiral Juan Bautista Perez Puig delivers a speech about the exercise as the naval drill of STEADFAST DART 26, one of NATO’s largest exercises in 2026, is announced at a press conference held in Rota, Spain on January 29, 2026. (Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The source further claimed that the policy options outlined in the email would be intended to send a strong signal to NATO allies with the goal of “decreasing the sense of entitlement on the part of the Europeans.” One of the options in the email reportedly envisions suspending “difficult” countries from important or prestigious positions at NATO, per the unnamed official’ statements to Reuters.
“As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Reuters.
“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.
While Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez initially adopted a purpoted “neutral” stance towards the war in Iran in early March, Spain has since then closed its airspace to U.S. flights involved in the war and has prohibited U.S. military aircraft from utilizing the Spanish military bases bases in Rota, Cádiz and Morón de la Frontera, Seville. Sánchez has fiercely criticized the United States and Iran for launching military operations against the rogue Iranian Islamic regime on several occasions.
Sánchez’s stance appears to have earned him the praise of the Iranian regime, as Iranian propaganda networks have published footage of stickers containing quotes from the Spanish Prime Minister on missiles alongside messages of gratitude.
Prime Minister Sánchez, presently at Cyprus for an informal meeting of EU heads of state, downplayed the contents of the report in remarks issued to reporters, and said, We do not work off emails. We work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States.”
“This government’s position is clear: full cooperation with our allies, but within the framework of international law,” Sánchez asserted, per the newspaper ABC.
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