Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian publicly praised Spain's refusal to grant US base access — the first time in this conflict that a NATO member state has received endorsement from Tehran.
The endorsement creates a problem Spain did not seek. Sánchez's "No to war" was directed at Washington; Pezeshkian's response reframes it as alignment with Tehran. In a conflict where the EU and Gulf states have jointly condemned Iranian attacks, public Iranian praise for a European government introduces a liability that opponents — in Madrid's Parliament and in allied capitals — can exploit.
Tehran's approach follows a consistent pattern. Iran rejected direct negotiations with Washington, and its back-channel approach through the CIA was publicly shut down by Trump. Unable to secure a ceasefire through diplomacy, Tehran has an interest in degrading the political cohesion that sustains the military campaign. Praising Spain costs Iran nothing and burdens Madrid with an association it must actively manage. The Spanish government now faces the task of distinguishing between opposing a war and being endorsed by one of its belligerents — a distinction that, in domestic politics, rarely survives a single news cycle.
