The United States could punish Spain by suspending it from NATO, a Pentagon email reveals / For the British, it is considered another measure

An internal Pentagon email has revealed options available to the United States to punish NATO allies it deems guilty of not supporting US operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and revising the US position on Britain's claims to the Falkland Islands, a US official told Reuters.

The options for possible action are detailed in a memo expressing frustration with some allies' reluctance or refusal to grant the United States access, overflight and overflight rights — known as ABOs — for the war with Iran, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose the contents of the email.

It states that the ABO is the “absolute basis for NATO,” according to the official, who added that variants have circulated at high levels within the Pentagon.

One option in the email calls for the suspension of “difficult” countries from important or prestigious positions within NATO, the official said.

Options to ensure allies aren't 'cardboard tigers'

President Donald Trump has slammed NATO allies for not sending naval forces to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed to global shipping since the air war began on February 28.

He also stated that he was considering withdrawing from the alliance. “Wouldn't you do the same thing if you were me?” Trump said in an April 1 interview with Reuters in response to a question about the possibility of the US withdrawing from NATO.

However, the email did not suggest the United States would do so, the official said. It also does not propose closing bases in Europe.

But the official declined to say whether the options included a withdrawal of US forces from Europe, as many expected.

Asked to comment on the email, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded: “As President Trump has said, despite everything the United States has done for our NATO allies, they have not stood by us.

“The War Department will make sure that the president has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a cardboard tiger and that they are doing their part. We have no further comment on internal discussions on this,” Wilson said.

Spain's suspension from NATO would have a “significant symbolic impact”

The US-Israeli war against Iran has raised serious questions about the future of the 76-year-old alliance and sparked unprecedented concern that the US may not come to the aid of European allies if they are attacked, according to many analysts and diplomats.

Britain, France and other countries say that joining the US naval blockade would be tantamount to going to war, but that they would be willing to help keep the strait open once a lasting armistice is reached or the conflict ends.

But Trump administration officials have emphasized that NATO cannot be a one-way street.

They expressed frustration with Spain, where the socialist government has said it will not allow its bases or its airspace to be used to attack Iran. The United States has two major military bases in Spain: Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Force Base.

The policy options outlined in the email are said to be intended to send a strong signal to NATO allies with the goal of “reducing Europeans' sense of what is due to them,” the official said, summarizing the content of the email.

The option to suspend Spain from the alliance would have a limited effect on US military operations, but a significant symbolic impact, the email claims.

The official did not say how the United States might go about suspending Spain from the alliance, and Reuters said it could not make clear whether there was a mechanism at NATO to do so.

Reassessing Support for “Imperial Possessions”

The memo also includes an option to consider reassessing US diplomatic support for European “imperial possessions,” such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.

The State Department website says the islands are administered by the United Kingdom but are still claimed by Argentina, whose libertarian president Javier Milei is a Trump ally.

Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over these islands after Argentina tried unsuccessfully to conquer them. About 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British soldiers died before Argentina surrendered.

Trump has repeatedly insulted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling him a coward over his refusal to join the US war against Iran, saying he is “not a Winston Churchill” and calling British aircraft carriers “toys”.

Britain initially refused a US request to allow its planes to attack Iran from two British bases, but later agreed to allow defensive missions to protect residents of the region, including British citizens, in the face of Iranian retaliation.