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Spain Halts Controversial $7.5m Deal To Buy Ammunition From Israeli Company

PM Pedro Sanchez intervened to avoid a damaging political fallout with far-left allies in Spain’s coalition government. Madrid, Spain – Spain’s government halted a controversial $7.5m deal to buy ammunition from Israel on Thursday, following criticism of it from far-left allies within the governing minority coalition. The country’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, intervened to cancel the deal after Sumar, a group of left-wing parties, threatened to pull out of the governing coalition. “After exhausting all routes for negotiation, the prime minister, deputy prime minister and ministries involved have decided to rescind this contract with the Israeli company IMI Systems,” a government source, who did not want to be named according to Spanish government practice, told Al Jazeera on Thursday. Spain has been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza, and in October 2023, pledged to stop selling weapons to Israel. In February 2024, it said it also would not buy weapons from Israel. However, in the same month, the Spanish Ministry of Interior signed a deal with IMI Solutions to purchase 15 million rounds of ammunition. The ammunition was destined for the Civil Guard, Spain’s semi-military police force. However, after protests from five ministers from Sumar, the Spanish government began a study to determine whether it was feasible to cancel the order. “In October 2024, a study was started into the possible ending of the contract. After the study, the ministry decided to follow the recommendation from the state attorney, who advised against the ending of the contract at that stage, so the contract was honoured,” a spokesperson for the Spanish Interior Ministry told Al Jazeera, adding that ending “the contract would have involved paying … [IMI Solutions] without receiving the material.” On Wednesday, April 23, the Interior Ministry said it would go ahead with the arms deal, six months after seeking to cancelling it, to avoid paying compensation to the Israeli company. In response, Yolanda Díaz, deputy prime minister and leader of Sumar, told reporters in Barcelona, “This deal must be rectified. I insist, it is a flagrant violation of the agreements when we are witnessing the live genocide of the Palestinian people.” Analysts said the row could further damage already tense relations between the Socialists and Sumar in Spain’s fragile government, especially after Sanchez announced on Tuesday that his government would raise defence spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to hit NATO targets, a move which angered Sumar. Under pressure from US President Donald Trump, Spain, which has the lowest NATO budget among its 32 members, rolled out a 10.5-billion-euro ($12bn) plan to meet the 2-percent goal this year. Spaniards were divided over the ammunition deal, with a poll for online newspaper 20minutos.es showing that 48.46 percent of the 7,871 people surveyed opposed it, while 46.94 percent backed the deal and 4.58 percent did not know how they felt. “Buying this ammunition would have shown that Spain is not supporting Palestine. It would have been a betrayal of the [more than] 50,000 people who have died in Gaza in the genocide there,” Igor Otxoa, of the Guernica Palestine organisation, a civic organisation, told Al Jazeera. In the wake of the dispute, Veronica Martinez Barbero, Sumar’s parliamentary spokesperson, told Al Jazeera Spain should not go ahead with the contract. “There is a question of not completing promises. The defence minister said Spain would not buy these weapons. We want this to be rectified, and this contract not be completed,” she said. But not everybody has supported the decision to cancel the contract. Astrid Barrio Lopez, a political analyst at the University of Valencia, told Al Jazeera the decision “shows that there is little judicial security for companies dealing with the Spanish government and little leadership within the government”. The Israeli embassy in Madrid could not be reached for comment. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Iran Signals Willingness To Hold Nuclear Talks With Europeans

France has indicated that European powers are also ready for dialogue if Tehran shows it is seriously engaged Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he is ready to travel to Europe for talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme, and France has indicated that European powers are also ready for dialogue if Tehran shows it is seriously engaged. Iran is looking to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the United States, which will resume in Oman on Saturday, and after talks with Russia and China this week. Its message to the European powers that were party to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal suggests Tehran is keeping its options open. Since September, Tehran and the three European powers known as the E3 – France, Germany and the United Kingdom – have already held several rounds of discussions over their ties and the nuclear issue. The most recent in March was held at the technical level and looked at the parameters of a future deal to secure a rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme in return for lifting sanctions against it. European diplomats had said they were seeking a new meeting with Iran although the momentum towards talks appeared to stall when Tehran began indirect negotiations on its nuclear programme with US President Donald Trump’s administration this month. Trump, who abandoned the landmark 2015 pact between Tehran and world powers in 2018 during his first term, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly and the agreement prevents it from developing a nuclear weapon. “Iran’s relations with the E3 … have experienced ups and downs in recent history. Like it or not, they are currently down,” Araghchi wrote on X. “I once again propose diplomacy. After my recent consultations in Moscow & Beijing, I am ready to take the first step with visits to Paris, Berlin & London. … The ball is now in the E3’s court.” The European powers have seen their ties with Iran worsen over other issues, including its ballistic missile programme, detention of foreign citizens and support for Russia in its war in Ukraine. When asked about Araghchi’s comments, France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs spokesman Christophe Lemoine said the E3 favoured dialogue but wanted to see how serious Iran was. “The only solution is a diplomatic solution, and Iran must resolutely engage in this path, and it’s a proposal the E3 have put forward many times, so we will continue dialogue with the Iranians,” he said at a news conference. Germany and Britain did not immediately comment on the matter. The US did not tell European countries about the nuclear talks in Oman before Trump announced them, even though they hold a key card on the possible reimposition of UN sanctions on Tehran. However, the US lead technical negotiator, Michael Anton, briefed E3 diplomats in Paris on April 17, according to two European diplomats, suggesting that coordination has improved. Expert-level Iran-US talks will take place on Saturday, Tehran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said, with a third round of high-level nuclear talks due on the same day in Oman. Anton, who was a spokesman for the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021, will lead a team of about a dozen US government officials to negotiate. Western countries have long suspected Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which it has consistently denied. The threat of renewed sanctions is intended to pressure Tehran into concessions, making detailed discussions on strategy between the Americans and Europeans vital, the Reuters news agency quoted diplomats as saying. Because the US quit the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, it cannot initiate its mechanism for reimposing sanctions, called snapback, at the United Nations Security Council. That makes the E3, the only other participants in the 2015 deal capable of and interested in pursuing snapback. According to diplomats quoted by Reuters, the E3 diplomats are looking to trigger snapback by August as opposed to an earlier June timeframe if no substantial deal can be found by then. That opportunity expires on October 18 when the 2015 accord ends. Follow Al Jazeera English:...