Saying 'no to war' — and Trump — Spanish PM Sánchez likens Iran attack to Iraq invasion

(CN) — Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stood firm in his anti-war stance Wednesday, emerging as a leading voice among European leaders to denounce U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to attack Iran and plunge the world into a new crisis.

The prime minister’s Wednesday speech was a response to Trump’s assault on Spain’s anti-war position during a White House meeting Tuesday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Sánchez, one of the only left-wing leaders left in the European Union, called the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran illegal under international law and warned it could lead to disastrous consequences similar to those of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. French President Emmanuel Macron also called the war “outside of international law” in a televised speech Tuesday.

“We reject the breach of international law that protects us all, especially the most vulnerable members, the civilian population,” Sánchez said. “We must not assume that the world can only solve its problems through conflict and bombs.”

He added: “We must not repeat the mistakes of the past. In short, the position of the government of Spain can be summed up in four words: no a la guerra (no to war).”

He also condemned Iran for striking back by “bombing indiscriminately” countries in the region and hitting a British military base in Cyprus, a European Union state. He called the Iranian regime repressive and vile.

On Tuesday, Trump lashed out at Sánchez for banning American aircraft from using Spanish bases to attack Iran and the American president threatened to shut down trade ties with Spain, the EU’s fourth largest economy.

“Spain has been terrible, in fact I told Scott to cut off all dealings with Spain,” Trump said, referring to Scott Bessent, the secretary of the Treasury.

Trump belittled Spain by saying the U.S. could ignore restrictions on the use of joint military bases if it wanted to.

“And now Spain actually said we can’t use their bases. And that’s all right, we don’t want to do it. We could use the base if we want,” the president said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. “We could just fly in and use it, nobody is going to tell us not to use it. But we don’t have to.”

Trump also blasted Sánchez for not going along with his demand that NATO members spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense.

Merz, who has backed Trump’s attack on Iran, faced criticism in Europe for staying mum as the American president lambasted Spain and for saying the nation needed “convincing” to spend more on defense.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Spanish media he was “surprised” by Merz’s reaction to Trump’s statements and said the German leader appeared to be in agreement with Trump.

In his speech, Sánchez warned the attack on Iran was similar to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“Twenty-three years ago, another U.S. administration dragged us into a war in the Middle East,” he said. “A war which, in theory, was said at the time to be waged to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, to bring democracy and to guarantee global security, but which, in reality, analyzed with perspective, produced the opposite effect.”

The Iraq invasion “unleashed the greatest wave of insecurity that our continent had suffered since the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Sánchez said.

“The war in Iraq war provoked a drastic increase in jihadist terrorism, a severe migration crisis in the eastern Mediterranean and a widespread increase in energy thus impacting the cost of the shopping basket and the cost of living,” he said.

He said this war, launched with “unclear objectives,” might become a protracted conflict “with numerous casualties and, therefore, with serious consequences also on a global economic scale.”

He said “a fairer international order will not emerge” by attacking Iran and that the war would lead to higher energy costs and economic turmoil.

“That is why Spain is against this disaster, because we understand that governments are here to improve people’s lives, to provide solutions to problems, not to make people’s lives worse,” he said.

He called for an immediate ceasefire and diplomacy to end the conflict.

Sánchez has raised his profile as Europe’s anti-Trump leader by opposing Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, condemning the U.S. abduction of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and embracing immigration.

His opponents on the right cast Sánchez’s disagreement with Trump as a ploy to win over left-leaning voters at a moment when his government is in trouble amid corruption scandals and weakened support.

“In trying to win a few votes at home,” said Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the Popular Party, “we cannot put at risk our security, our stability and our position in the world.”

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Follow @cainburdeau