The Spanish embassy in Tehran has reopened with a commitment to “support peace” in the region, prompting sharp criticism from Israel.
“We return to Tehran,” the embassy wrote on X. “Ambassador Antonio Sanchez-Benedito Gaspar, together with the diplomatic team and local staff, resumes his work with the commitment to support peace.”
A number of European embassies, including Spain, had relocated their offices outside of Tehran last month after the US and Israel launched a joint air offensive against Iran. The Dutch embassy was temporarily moved to Baku, Azerbaijan. Bulgaria's embassy also evacuated to Baku in June last year, during the 12-day war.
Meanwhile, a large number of EU countries have maintained diplomatic representation in Iran, though sometimes with reduced services. Ambassadors from France, Poland, Cyprus and Finland are in Tehran.
However Spain's decision to re-open its embassy in Iran, first announced last week, drew sharp criticism from Israel as tensions between the two countries increase. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described it as an “eternal disgrace”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been the most vocal European critic of US and Israeli actions in the region and the first to describe them as illegal under international law.
He has also urged the EU to reconsider the possibility of suspending the EU-Israel association agreement, following Israel's recent surge in attacks against Lebanon.
In 2024, Mr Sanchez failed to garner wide-ranging support for such a measure, which he had called for because of Israel's violations of its human rights obligations in Gaza. Israel and its European allies reject the term genocide.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded by accusing Mr Sanchez of leading a diplomatic war against his country. Last week, he withdrew Spain from the civil military co-ordination centre located in Israel, near Gaza, that is supposed to oversee the implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire in the enclave. A number of European observers are embedded within the centre.
Earlier this month, Spain formally withdrew its ambassador to Israel, six months after she was recalled for consultations following a row over a Spanish ban on military exports to Israel due to the Gaza war.
Israel had previously withdrawn its own ambassador to Spain in protest after Madrid recognised Palestinian statehood alongside France, the UK and a number of other European states.
