USA

Consider removing ‘US bases from countries who won’t let us fly from them’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday again lashed out at European allies for refusing to assist the U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran, urging President Trump to consider removing U.S. military bases from countries “that won’t let us fly over them.”

Graham repeated the suggestion after Trump he told reporters He said earlier Friday that the senator was “right to ask that.”

“Mr. President, one of the things I love most about you is that our allies now accept America as it is, at their peril,” the South Carolina Republican said. he wrote in a post on social platform X.

“I meant my suggestion then, and I will repeat it now: Facing the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism that is determined to develop nuclear weapons and is extremely close to achieving that goal, we should consider removing U.S. bases from countries that do not allow us to fly from them,” the senator added.

Trump and Graham have criticized their NATO allies in recent days for their reluctance to support U.S. military operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint that has been effectively closed to shipping traffic since the conflict began Feb. 28.

The ongoing blockade of Iran and increasing attacks on ships and oil and gas facilities, shook the global economycausing fuel prices to rise sharply.

The president said last Sunday he wanted seven countries send warships to help secure the strait, but so far none have agreed to lend military assets.

The United Kingdom recently approved the use of UK military bases for “defensive” strikes against Iranian missile sites targeting ships in the strait. However, Trump claimed that this move was a “too late reaction”.

Yet other NATO countries, such as Spain, said early in the war that they would not do the same.

“Common-use bases, but under Spanish sovereignty, will not be used for anything that is not included in the agreement or the UN Charter,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said during a March 1 broadcast. RTVE.

On Friday, Graham called Spain’s refusal to allow American planes stationed there to be used in a military operation an “insult and affront” to the long-standing alliance and said the president should consider relocating.

“Mr. President, I think America’s interests would be well served by moving these planes from Spain to a country we can truly trust in our time of great need,” he wrote. “I trust your judgment.”

The senator, a staunch war hawk, has long been one of the most vocal advocates of U.S. military intervention against Iran on Capitol Hill, often pressing Trump to take a more aggressive approach to the conflict.

Earlier this week, he called on Trump to “take” Kharg Island, a key export terminal in the Gulf, arguing that this would harm the economy of the weakened Iranian regime.

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