U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday thanked Portugal over its close and defense cooperation in phone call with his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel.
Principal State Dept. Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel and highlighted the continued strength of U.S.-Portugal bilateral ties. Secretary Rubio thanked Foreign Minister Rangel for Portugal’s close economic and defense cooperation. Both leaders expressed their commitment to transatlantic security.
In a social media post, Portugal’s Foreign Ministry detailed that Rubio and Rangel discussed the situation in the Middle East and noted the importance of the transatlantic link. Both officials also addressed the bilateral relations between the United States and Portugal in terms of economy and defense.
Unlike other European nations that have refused to allow the United States to utilize its military bases in the ongoing military operations against the Iranian Islamic regime such as Spain, Portugal notably stands over the logistical support it has provided the United States in the ongoing operations in the Middle East through the use of the Lajes Air Base, located on Terceira Island in the Azores.
The Portuguese newspaper Expresso reports that since the start of the war in Iran, the Lajes Air base has served as a “key logistics hub” for the United States, with several military aircraft — primarily refueling planes — taking off from the base on nearly daily missions.
Usage of the Lajes base, Expresso explained, is being carried out under the terms of a “conditional authorization” granted by the Portuguese government. The authorization was provided under the terms of an existing agreement between both nations, whose requirements reportedly stipulate that the base’s infrastructure could only be used “in response to an attack, in a context of defense or retaliation,” that the action had to be “necessary and proportionate,” and that it could only “target military targets.”
Per Euronews, Foreign Minister Rangel explained that the agreement was greenlit as soon as the United States informed Portugal that it intended to carry out a military operation against Iran, and that the Lajes Air Base would be used for said purpose.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro told the nation’s Parliament in mid-March that, based on the information available to the government, the United States’ use of the Lajes Air Base “has fully complied” with the authorization’s terms granted by Portugal.
“I would like to take this opportunity to inform Parliament that, to the best of our knowledge and based on our oversight, the use of the Lajes Base has fully complied with the conditions underlying the authorization granted by the Portuguese Republic,” Montenegro reportedly said at the time.
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