Pentagon Email Floats Punishing NATO Allies Over Iran War Rift

A Pentagon email has pushed NATO’s internal fault lines into the open, floating punishment options that would strike at Spain’s membership and even reopen Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands. The document, prepared by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy adviser, reflected frustration over allies’ refusal to grant the United States access, basing and overflight rights for the Iran war.

The proposed steps marked a sharp escalation in the politics of burden-sharing inside the alliance, even if the email stopped short of recommending the closure of U.S. bases in Europe or an American exit from NATO. NATO officials said the treaty does not provide for suspending a member state, underscoring how far the discussion had drifted from existing alliance rules.

Spain has become the flashpoint because Madrid has already drawn a line over the Iran conflict. Jose Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister, said earlier this month that U.S. complaints about NATO and threats to quit the alliance were pushing Europeans toward alternative security arrangements. He argued that Europe should move toward a more sovereign defense posture, including a pan-European army and deeper defense-industrial integration. Spanish authorities also closed Spanish airspace to U.S. planes involved in strikes and banned them from jointly operated military bases in southern Spain.

Pedro Sánchez responded in Nicosia, Cyprus, by calling Spain a “loyal partner” and saying his government bases decisions on official documents and government positions, not emails. He said Spain remained fully cooperative with allies, but only within international law, and said the government felt “completely at ease.”

The dispute lands on top of a long-running argument over NATO spending. In April 2025, Sánchez announced an extra €10.4 billion in defense spending to meet NATO’s 2% of GDP target by the end of 2025, taking Spain’s military budget to about €34 billion. Even so, Spain spent just 1.28% of GDP on defense in 2024, according to POLITICO, making it the alliance’s lowest spender and far below the 5% target Donald Trump has demanded.

The fallout is not limited to Madrid. The same email also called for a review of the U.S. position on Britain’s Falklands claim, prompting pushback from London. Downing Street said sovereignty over the islands “rests with the UK.” That broadens the dispute from a bilateral quarrel into a test of whether Washington’s pressure tactics can force compliance, or whether they will harden resistance and weaken cohesion inside NATO.