Spain's socialist PM Sanchez calls Trump's Iran war a 'colossal mistake' with fall-out 'much worse' than 2003 Iraq conflict
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned Wednesday that the Middle East war presented a 'far worse' scenario than the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
'This is not the same scenario as the illegal war in Iraq. We are facing something far worse. Much worse. With a potential impact that is far broader and far deeper,' he told parliament.
'This time, it's an absurd and illegal war. A cruel one that sets us back from achieving our economic, social, and environmental goals.'
The Socialist premier has refused Washington's requests to use Madrid's military bases against Iran, despite US President Donald Trump's threat to sever trade with Spain as a result.
Sanchez said the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 had failed to achieve its goals and instead made life worse for ordinary people, saying it led to a sharp increase in fuel and grocery prices, a migration crisis and jihadist attacks in Europe.
He warned that the attacks on Iran could have a similar economic impact for millions.
'Every bomb that falls in the Middle East eventually hits - as we are already seeing - the wallets of our families,' Sanchez said.
His government approved last week a sweeping package worth five billion euros ($5.8 billion) aimed at cushioning the economic impact of the Middle East war, which included reductions on taxes on fuel.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (pictured) warned Wednesday that the Middle East war presented a 'far worse' scenario than the invasion of Iraq in 2003
'It is not fair that some set the world on fire while others bear the ashes. It is not right that Spaniards and other Europeans should pay out of their own pockets for this illegal war,' Sanchez said.
His Iraq reference may strike a chord with Spanish voters.
Support for that war by the conservative Popular Party (PP) in power at the time which sent troops to Iraq was widely unpopular and sparked mass protests.
Some analysts say it paved the way for the Socialist Party's surprise win in March 2004, days after deadly jihadist bombings hit Madrid.
A branch of Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks and called for the withdrawal of Spanish forces from Iraq.
A majority of Spaniards, 53.2 percent, back Sanchez's decision not to let the United States use the Rota naval base and Moron airbase in strikes against Iran, a poll published earlier this month in daily newspaper El Pais showed.
It comes as Iran has responded to Trump's 15-point peace plan with a list of its own demands, including calling for the closure of US bases in the Middle East and a new toll for Strait of Hormuz shipping.
Washington sent Tehran the plan - modelled on Trump's Gaza deal - to end the crisis in the Middle East, highlighting the White House's eagerness to find an offramp from the war as it wrestles with its economic fallout.
The ongoing shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has proved disastrous for global energy and trade flows, pushing Brent crude prices to their highest levels in nearly four years - at one point reaching nearly $120 a barrel.
It is unclear how widely the plan, delivered via Pakistan, had been shared among Iranian officials, with the regime sternly denying a peace process is taking place following comments from Trump that Tehran wants a deal 'so badly'.
Public statements aside, Iran has let the Trump administration know it has a high-bar for re-entering a ceasefire deal, including the closure of all American bases in the Gulf and reparations for attacks on the country.
According to the Wall Street Journal, other demands include a new order for the Strait of Hormuz, that would allow Tehran to collect fees from ships that transit the Persian Gulf channel, as Egypt does now with the Suez Canal.
The regime wants it to be guaranteed that the conflict wouldn't restart and an end to Israel's attacks on the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
It has also demanded a lifting of all sanctions on Iran, and for the country to retain its missile programme, with no negotiations to limit it.
According to the Journal, a US official called the demands 'ridiculous and unrealistic'.
The posturing will make reaching a resolution with the Islamic Republic harder than before Trump started the war, Arab and US officials said.
While the US President claimed on Tuesday that Tehran gave Washington a 'very big present worth a tremendous amount of money', an Iranian military spokesman insisted that the US is 'negotiating with itself', adding: 'Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you.'
Israel and the US have pummelled Iran's ballistic missiles, launchers and production facilities, as well as its nuclear programme in the bombing campaign that began on February 28, with leaders vowing never to allow the regime to possess a nuclear weapon.
In terms of Washington's demands on Iran, Israel's Channel 12 reported that the 15-point plan includes the pledge that nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow must be taken out of use and destroyed.
It also calls for transparency and oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over activities in Tehran, as well as the promise that the regime will abandon the use of armed proxies in the region, and stop its funding and arming of regional allies.
Iran would have to dismantle its existing nuclear capabilities that have already been accumulated, and commit to never striving to achieve nuclear weapons again.
Under the plan, all enriched material must be handed over to the IAEA, and no nuclear material will be enriched on Iranian soil.
Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz will remain open and constitute a 'free maritime zone'.
