Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warns Iran war 'far worse' than Iraq in 2003

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez speaks with the media as he arrives for the EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, 19 March, 2026
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By Christina Thykjaer & Gavin Blackburn
Published on
25/03/2026 - 13:46 GMT+1
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Sánchez said the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 had failed to achieve its goals and instead made life worse for ordinary people.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned on Wednesday that the Iran war represents a "far worse" scenario than the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"This is not the same scenario as the illegal war in Iraq
We are facing something far 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 prime minister has refused Washington's requests to use Madrid's military bases to launch strikes against Iran, despite US President Donald Trump's threat to sever trade with Spain as a result.

"Spain has been terrible," Trump complained to Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier in March
"So we're going to cut off all trade with Spain
We don't want anything to do with Spain."
"Spain has absolutely nothing that we need other than great people
They have great people, but they don't have great leadership," he said
Iranian Red Crescent emergency workers use a bulldozer to clear rubble from a residential building that was hit in Tehran, 23 March, 2026
AP Photo
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Economic impact
Last week, his government approved a sweeping package worth €5 billion to cushion the economic impact of the war, including reductions in fuel taxes.

"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," Sánchez said.

His reference to Iraq may strike a chord with some 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.

Rubble covers the furniture of a destroyed living room in a residential building hit in Tehran, 23 March, 2026
Vahid Salemi/AP Photo
Some analysts say it paved the way for the socialist PSOE party’s surprise win in March 2004, days after deadly jihadist bombings hit commuter trains connecting Madrid and nearby Alcalá de Henares in and around the Atocha train station in the Spanish capital.

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%, back Sánchez's decision not to allow the US to use the Rota naval base and the Morón air base for strikes against Iran, a poll published earlier this month in the daily newspaper El País showed.

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