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Spain Closes the Country's Airspace to US Planes Involved in the Iran War

Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles arrives at the informal EU Defense Ministers' meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS
Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles arrives at the informal EU Defense Ministers' meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS
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Spain Closes the Country's Airspace to US Planes Involved in the Iran War

Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles arrives at the informal EU Defense Ministers' meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS
Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles arrives at the informal EU Defense Ministers' meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Thomas Traasdahl via REUTERS

Spain has closed its airspace to US planes involved in the Iran war, the defense minister said Monday, marking another step in the government's opposition to US and Israeli involvement in the conflict in the Middle East.

The country had already said that the US couldn't use jointly operated military bases in the Iran conflict, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described as illegal, reckless and unjust, The AP news reported.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles said Monday that the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace in the conflict.

“This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,” Robles told reporters.

Spain’s government under Sánchez, one of Europe's most prominent left-wing leaders, has been Europe’s loudest opposing voice against US and Israeli military actions in the Middle East.

He has called on the US, Israel and Iran to end the war, saying earlier this month: “You cannot respond to one illegality with another, because that’s how humanity’s great disasters begin.”

After Sánchez's government denied the US use of the Rota and Morón military bases in southern Spain, US President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid.

It was the latest flare-up between Spain and the US, which made trade threats against the European nation last year, too, when Sánchez said that his government wouldn't increase its defense spending in accordance with a ramp-up agreed to by other NATO members following pressure from Trump.

At the time, Sánchez's government said that Spain could meet its military commitments by spending 2.1% of gross domestic product on defense, instead of the 5% the rest of the 32-nation military alliance agreed upon.

Sánchez was also among the most vocal critics of Israel's actions in the war in Gaza, which invited criticism from Israel's government on several occasions.

“I think everyone knows Spain’s position; it’s very clear,” Robles said, calling the war in Iran “profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.”

Associated Press

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World

Iran Maritime Body Says Hormuz Completely Closed 'Until Further Notice'

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
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Iran Maritime Body Says Hormuz Completely Closed 'Until Further Notice'

Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Vessels are anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer

Iran's new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday confirmed a complete closure order for the strategic waterway until further notice, after the Revolutionary Guards announced the move overnight.

"Due to the tensions caused by the aggression of the American forces in the region and the announcement made last night by the Iranian armed forces, the Strait of Hormuz will be closed until further notice," PGSA said in a post on X .

"Applicants who have been granted a transit permit are asked to be patient and wait for instructions from the PGSA."

World

A Mass Funeral is Held for 22 Pakistani Soldiers Who Died in a Helicopter Crash in Kashmir

Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
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A Mass Funeral is Held for 22 Pakistani Soldiers Who Died in a Helicopter Crash in Kashmir

Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)
Smoke billows after an army MI-17 helicopter crashed due to a technical fault, in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/M.D. Mughal)

Rescuers recovered the remains of all 22 soldiers aboard a military helicopter that crashed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir the previous day, officials said Thursday, confirming there were no survivors, as senior government and military officials attended a mass funeral for the victims.

The helicopter crashed Wednesday in Muzaffarabad, the regional capital, apparently because of a technical fault, according to Pakistan’s military. An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause.

An Associated Press reporter counted 22 coffins draped in Pakistan’s national flag at a funeral ceremony.

Witnesses and regional officials said the remains of the soldiers were recovered from the badly burned wreckage. The dead included a colonel and two army majors, according to two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Among those attending the funerals was regional Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore.

According to the officials, the soldiers had been traveling to carry out security duties after a call for a march on Muzaffarabad by the Joint Awami Action Committee, a recently banned alliance of various groups.

Authorities have not indicated any connection between the planned protest and the crash.

Pakistan has deployed additional security forces across the region, where tensions have been high since the weekend after members of an outlawed group attacked police and security personnel, killing four officers.

Military helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Pakistan.

In September, an army helicopter on a routine flight crashed in northern Pakistan, killing two pilots and three technicians.

World

Taiwan Says Chinese Ships Entered Waters of Disputed South China Sea Island

A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
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Taiwan Says Chinese Ships Entered Waters of Disputed South China Sea Island

A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
A Taiwan Coast Guard boat patrols, as seen from a boat with Chinese tourists, to observe Taiwan's Kinmen Islands, off Xiamen, in China's southeastern Fujian province on May 25, 2026. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

Taiwan said Chinese ships entered the "prohibited" waters off a disputed island in the South China Sea for the first time on Thursday, condemning escalating "harassment" by Beijing.

The two Chinese vessels "openly intruded" into the waters around the Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island and stayed for 15 minutes before the Taiwanese coast guard expelled them, the force said in a statement.

The island, also known as Itu Aba, is the largest in the Spratly archipelago claimed by Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Vietnam, said AFP.

The Taiwanese coast guard expressed its "strongest condemnation of this incident", saying it "once again maliciously escalates grey-zone harassment in an attempt to create a false impression of jurisdiction".

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and in recent years has ramped up military pressure on the island democracy.

Beijing also claims most of the South China Sea.

Taiping's "prohibited" waters extend four kilometers (2.5 miles) from shore, Taiwan's coast guard said.

"China is systematically harassing Taiwan," the Ocean Affairs Council, which is responsible for the coast guard, said on X.

The latest in a series of Chinese activities in waters around Taiwan and islands under its control follows an operation to Taiwan's east, which Beijing said was in response to talks between Japan and the Philippines to draw a maritime boundary there.

The Ocean Affairs Council said Thursday's incident "also proves that what China did in the waters east of Taiwan should be dealt with as a challenge to international order; Japan-Philippines talks were just an excuse."

China called the Japan-Philippines talks "illegal" and has claimed exclusive control over the affected waters.

Taiwan has branded the Chinese operation in recent days as "provocative" and "expansionism in disguise".

Taipei has also accused the Chinese ships of "harassment" after they requested information from three passing commercial cargo ships, including their port of destination.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's coast guard said Saturday that a Chinese survey vessel had joined a coast guard ship in waters around Pratas Island in the northern part of the South China Sea.

It was "the first observed instance of Chinese coast guard and survey vessels acting in coordination to provoke Taiwan", the coast guard said.

Taiwan controls Pratas but Beijing also claims the island, along with most of the strategic waterway.