Pedro Sanchez has demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East following widely-condemned threats made by Donald Trump against Iran.
The Spanish prime minister said the war continuing will be ‘catastrophic’ for the world economy and bring more humanitarian suffering.
It came after Trump said ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight’ unless Iran agrees to ‘open the Strait of Hormuz’ by 1am Wednesday (European time).
In a post on X at 8.30pm on Tuesday, Sanchez said: ‘Today I have spoken with the President of Turkey,
‘We share the concern for security in the eastern Mediterranean and regional stability.
‘Spain reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.
‘Prolonging this war will only worsen the humanitarian cost and will have a catastrophic economic impact for all.’
Writing on Truth Social earlier on Tuesday, Trump took his ultimatum to the next level, warning that ‘a whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.’
Many took the message to be a thinly-veiled threat of nuclear weapons use.
Elsewhere, Vice President JD Vance told reporters in Budapest that the US ‘have tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use’ against Iran, without explaining further.
The White House later denied that he was referring to to nuclear weapons, while Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AFP that ‘only the President knows where things stand and what he will do.’
