^{U.S. President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid, June 28, 2024. Credit: Ministry of the Presidency, Government of Spain.}

The United States has opened an official investigation into whether Spain has been denying port entry to cargo vessels transporting American weapons to Israel.

The move comes as Spain under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has emerged as one of Israel’s most vocal critics in Europe, and has championed the Palestinian cause.

The Federal Maritime Commission, an independent agency of the U.S. government, said it opened the probe after receiving information that the NATO ally had refused to allow at least three cargo vessels into its ports, two of which were U.S.-flagged.

“The commission is concerned that this apparent policy of denying entry to certain vessels will create conditions unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade,” it said on Thursday, in a notice published in the official journal of the federal government, the Federal Register.

Spain could be subjected to millions of dollars in fines if it has been found to have interfered with such commerce, with a maximum fine of $2.3 million per voyage.

Spanish officials have not commented on the U.S. investigation.

Earlier this year, Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente acknowledged that a Danish-flagged ship was denied port entry for carrying weapons to Israel.

In late October, Spain’s Interior Ministry announced the cancellation of an ammunition purchase from Israel.

The canceled $7.1 million contract was for 15 million 9 mm rounds for the Spanish police force from Guardian Ltd Israel, El Pais reported.

“The Spanish government has maintained its commitment not to sell or buy weapons to the Israeli state since the armed conflict broke out in the territory of Gaza,” said the Interior Ministry. “In addition, other Israeli companies will be excluded as bidders in other arms procurement procedures currently being processed by the Directorate General of the Civil Guard,” the statement continued.

A week earlier, the TRT news agency reported that Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles had confirmed the suspension of all weapons purchases from Israel since Oct. 7, 2023.

Sánchez previously joined the call for an arms embargo against Israel, which Canada, France and the United Kingdom also announced.

Spain stopped its own defense companies from shipping arms to Israel in October 2023, shortly after the Hamas massacre that triggered the now-14-month-old war.

Spain was a smaller supplier, with its exports amounting to just under $50 million in 2023.

Last summer, Spain became the first European country to ask the United Nations’ International Court of Justice to be allowed to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

The move came a month after Norway, Ireland and Spain announced that they would recognize a Palestinian state.

Two months ago, Sánchez urged the European Union to suspend the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel over its military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.

Earlier this month, Madrid announced significant increases in funding for the International Criminal Court and the terror-tainted United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Source: JNS