Pentagon email floats suspending Spain from NATO, other steps over Iran rift, source says

An internal Pentagon email outlines options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support ​U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the U.S. position on Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands, a U.S. official told Reuters.

The policy options are ‌detailed in a note expressing frustration at some allies' perceived reluctance or refusal to grant the United States access, basing and overflight rights - known as ABO - for the Iran war, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the email.

The email stated that ABO is "just the absolute baseline for NATO," according to the official, who added that the options were circulating at high levels in the Pentagon.

One option in the email envisions suspending "difficult" countries from important or prestigious positions at NATO, the official said.

President Donald Trump has harshly criticized ​NATO allies for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed to global shipping following the start of the air war on February 28.

He has also declared he is ​considering withdrawing from the alliance.

"Wouldn't you if you were me?" Trump asked Reuters in an April 1 interview, in response to a question about whether the U.S. pulling out ⁠of NATO was a possibility.

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

The official declined to say whether the options included a widely expected ​U.S. drawdown of some forces from Europe, however.

Asked for comment on the email, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded: "As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there ​for us.

"The War Department will ensure that the President has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part. We have no further comment on any internal deliberations to that effect," Wilson said.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has raised serious questions about the future of the 76-year-old bloc and provoked unprecedented concern that the U.S. might not come to the aid of European allies should they be attacked, analysts and diplomats say.

Britain, France and others say ​that joining the U.S. naval blockade would amount to entering the war, but that they would be willing to help keep the Strait open once there was a lasting ceasefire or the conflict ended.