TEHRAN – Spain has recently strengthened its Israel-Palestinian stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by imposing an arms embargo on Israeli, banning the shipment of military fuels through ports and airspaces, as well as allowing official investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
This bold move marks Spain as a major European nation challenging the general Western approach to the Middle East, indicating the potential dynamics of EU foreign policy.
To better understand these developments, the Tehran Times interviewed Firas Alcharani, a physician and international affairs analyst living in Spain.
Dr. Arkani, from Syria, offers insight into Spain’s actions, its impact on EU-US relations, and its broader implications for Palestinian rights and regional diplomacy.
Below is the interview text.
Spain recently imposed an arms embargo on Israel, banning the delivery of fuel to Israeli forces using the country’s ports or airspace. How do you interpret these moves in terms of Spanish foreign policy priorities and their position within the European Union?
The Spanish plan is extremely important to contracts signed for that purpose, which will halt the shipment of weapons. Additional important steps have been taken to prevent the use of airports of aircraft carrying weapons to seize groups.
In my opinion, the next plan, particularly using American bases in Spain, to not use American bases on weaponry aircraft, would certainly strengthen this position. Other countries in the European Union, such as other countries such as Ireland and Slovenia, could make similar decisions.
Given the broader geopolitical context, how will Spain’s recent actions affect relations with both Israel and the Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Palestine?
I hope that will improve on relations between Middle Eastern countries like Spain and Iran. However, the US-led NATO position should not be forgotten when making decisions regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, Iran’s weapons and missile capabilities. They see it as a threat to the existence of Zionist beings that take it away.
This remains unchanged as it always uses the pretext of a two-state solution that is nonsense and hypocritical. They know that the entity was intended to take the whole of historic Palestine and establish a “great Israel” if possible.
With regard to Palestine, what matters is the return of Zionist prisoners and the end of the war without a solution that benefits the Palestinians and their rights to the lands that were taken away.
Spain has spoken out about supporting solutions for the Palestinian state and two states. How do you assess Spain’s diplomatic moves at the International Forum on Palestine Hemorrhage?
It is very important that Spain is taking part in the legal process. And in some way, it affects the EU countries. It was the second country after Ireland, a major EU country, and made such a decision that decided to punish war criminals and those responsible for genocide (very important in Gaza).
From your perspective, what is the possible implications of Spain’s actions on Spanish-US relations, given Washington’s strong support for Israel?
Spain will certainly face internal and external pressures due to its stance. The Spanish Zionist lobby is strong and supports right-wing parties such as the Spanish People’s Party, the Catalan Separatist Right Party (the largest party in the Catalan parliament), and the far-right party VOX.
They will revive previous issues, investigations, and corruption charges related to Spanish, British and American intelligence agencies, and use them against the ruling party, particularly Pedro Sanchez, to move Spanish public opinion and call for early elections. The United States will also put pressure on its customs duties and other measures.