Germany remains in solidarity with Spain, which was threatened by US President Trump with new trade tariffs over the refusal of the socialist Pedro Sanchez government to support the war against Iran.
This was stated last night by German Foreign Minister Johann Vaddeful in Berlin.
"Yesterday in Warsaw, I said that Spain can count on the solidarity of Germany and the EU when it comes to threats of new trade barriers."
- Vaddeful said and stressed that Europe will not allow an individual member state to be threatened economically.
The reason for this assurance was Spain's sharp reaction after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to the White House and his silence while Trump was threatening Spain. Vaddeful pointed out that Merz had brought this topic up, but later, not in front of television cameras, as German diplomacy requires.
The German foreign minister also reiterated that Germany would not engage in military action against Iran.
"The German government will not engage in this war, we remain in this position. Germany is also not involved in regime change, not only in Iran, but anywhere in the world."
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has questioned the legality of the attacks on Iran and banned the use of Spanish bases for American operations. The EU has warned the US against imposing a trade embargo on Spain and confirmed that it will defend the interests of all member states, expecting the US authorities to respect trade agreements.
British Defence Secretary John Healey has refused to rule out British offensive action in Iran.
Healey was in Cyprus yesterday.
The minister met with his Cypriot counterpart Vassilis Palmas and visited the Royal Air Force base Akrotiri, which was attacked by a drone earlier this week. Asked by a Sky News correspondent whether he would rule out the possibility of the UK getting involved in an offensive capacity, Healey replied:
"As the circumstances of any conflict change, you have to be prepared to adapt the actions you take. I do that by bringing in anti-drone helicopters overnight, I will do that in the next few weeks by sending the warship HMS "Dragon" for air defence".
Meanwhile, the BBC has released an update from Ministry of Defence sources on UK defence operations in the Middle East. It confirms the urgent deployment of four more "Typhoon" fighter jets to Qatar to support regional defence operations.
Royal Air Force F-35B and "Typhoon" fighter jets have already taken part in additional night defence operations, including over Qatar and Jordan. At UK bases in Cyprus, 400 additional deployed British servicemen are supporting air defence activities. British counter-drone specialists, who have been working closely with Ukrainian experts, are also deployed to the region.