Spain on Sunday said it would not allow the United States to use its air bases for operations related to the strikes in Iran, deeming the attacks a violation of international law.
“The joint-use bases, but under Spanish sovereignty, will not be used for anything not included within the treaty nor outside the U.N. Charter,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said during a Sunday broadcast appearance, according to a translation from RTVE.
Read more: Iran vows to attack any ship trying to pass through Strait of Hormuz
Following his Sunday remarks, multiple U.S. aircraft departed bases in Rota and Morón, Spain, according to data from FlightRadar24 as reported by Reuters.
Seven departing aircraft landed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany while nine tankers headed the same direction and two others headed toward the south of France, per the outlet.
“We demand respect for international law. Violence only brings chaos. De-escalation and dialogue are the path to peace and stability,” Albares wrote in a Saturday statement on the social platform X, following the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The wave of attacks resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Read more: Qatar downs Iran jets as Tehran targets oil and gas in spiralling Gulf crisis
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote a Sunday letter to the U.N. alleging Khamenei’s death “constitutes a grave and unprecedented breach of the most fundamental norms governing relations among States,” according to The Associated Press.
The U.N. Charter only permits the use of force against another nation if it has been authorized by the Security Council or in self-defense, according to AP.
Araghchi said the breach of the charter constitute “war crimes” highlighting strikes on schools, residential buildings and emergency facilities, according to the full text of the letter published by Iran’s WANA News Agency.
“We do not understand the reasons for the U.S. attack on Iran. Perhaps the U.S. administration was dragged into it,” the foreign minister wrote in a Saturday post on X.
“Here is what I do know: Iran will punish those who kill our children. Our enmity is not with the American people, who are being lied to yet again,” he added.
