Spain denies cooperating with US in West Asia, contradicting White House

A diplomatic tussle between the United States and Spain over the war in Iran intensified on Wednesday when the governments exchanged contradictory statements over the possible use of Spanish military bases by American armed forces for operations in the Middle East. Moments after a White House spokesperson said that the Spanish government in Madrid had agreed to help the US, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares came out and flatly denied that the European government had changed its position. "I can refute (the White House spokesperson)," Albares told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. "The position of the Spanish government regarding the war in the Middle East, the bombing of Iran and the use of our bases has not changed one iota." The disagreement broke out on Tuesday when US President Donald Trump had threatened to cut off trade with Madrid, hours after the Spanish prime minister said that his government wouldn't "be complicit in something that is bad for the world." Albare