Italy turns away Middle East-bound US military aircraft from Sicily stopover

ROME — U.S. military aircraft heading from the United States to the Middle East have been refused permission to stop off at an air base in Italy, an Italian government source has told Defense News.

The request to land at Sigonella air base in Sicily was issued to Italian authorities after the aircraft had already taken off from the U.S., Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported on Tuesday.

Italy has a longstanding deal with the U.S. to allow it to use Sigonella for regular military flights, while permission for use of the base by flights not covered by the agreement must be granted by the Italian parliament.

In a speech to parliament this month, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, “The bases used by the U.S. in Italy derive from agreements signed in 1954 and which have been updated since then by various governments. According to those agreements there are technical authorizations when it comes to logistics and non-kinetic operations that do not involve, put simply, bombing.”

She added that for any other kind of use of bases, “it depends on parliament.”

Since permission to land was requested by the U.S. after the jets took off from the United States, there was no time for such authorization to be obtained, the source said.

A statement issued by Meloni’s office on Tuesday said, “Every request is examined attentively, case by case, as has always happened in the past. There are no crises or frictions with international partners. Relations with the U.S., specifically, are solid and characterized by full and loyal cooperation.”

The refusal does however come in the wake of growing unease over the Iran war in the Italian government led by Meloni, who has previously positioned herself as a faithful ally to American President Donald Trump in Europe.

Meloni is playing a balancing act since she is keen not to alienate the majority of Italian voters who oppose the Iran war.

“We are not at war and we do not want to enter the war,” Meloni told Italy’s parliament earlier this month. She has also called the U.S. attack on Iran “outside the perimeter of international law.”

Spain has previously denied use of its bases to U.S. jets heading to Iran, incurring the anger of President Trump, who threatened to cut trade with Spain.

On Monday, Spain went further, closing its airspace to U.S. aircraft involved in the Iran war.

“Neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,” Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said, adding the war was ”profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust."

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——据《防务新闻》报道，一位意大利政府消息人士透露，从美国飞往中东的美国军用飞机被拒绝在意大利的一个空军基地停留。

据意大利《晚邮报》周二报道，飞机从美国起飞后，意大利当局收到了在西西里岛锡戈内拉空军基地降落的请求。

意大利与美国之间有一项长期协议，允许美国使用锡戈内拉空军基地进行常规军事飞行，而协议未涵盖的飞行活动必须获得意大利议会的批准才能使用该基地。

意大利总理乔治娅·梅洛尼本月在议会发表讲话时表示：“美国在意大利使用的基地源于1954年签署的协议，此后历届政府都对这些协议进行了更新。根据这些协议，在后勤保障和非动能行动方面，即不涉及轰炸的行动方面，存在一些技术授权。”

她补充说，对于基地的任何其他用途，“这取决于议会”。

消息人士称，由于飞机从美国起飞后，美国才提出降落许可申请，因此没有时间获得此类授权。

梅洛尼办公室周二发表声明称：“每一项请求都会像以往一样，逐案认真审查。我们与国际伙伴之间不存在任何危机或摩擦。特别是与美国的关系，稳固可靠，双方开展了全面而忠诚的合作。”

然而，这一拒绝是在意大利政府（由梅洛尼领导）对伊朗战争日益感到不安的背景下做出的。梅洛尼此前一直将自己定位为美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在欧洲的忠实盟友。

梅洛尼正在努力平衡各方利益，因为她不想疏远大多数反对伊朗战争的意大利选民。

“我们没有处于战争状态，我们也不想卷入战争，”梅洛尼本月初在意大利议会表示。她还称美国对伊朗的袭击“超出了国际法的范畴”。

西班牙此前曾拒绝美国战机使用其基地前往伊朗，这激怒了特朗普总统，他威胁要削减与西班牙的贸易。

周一，西班牙采取了更进一步的措施，关闭了其领空，禁止参与伊朗战争的美国飞机进入。

西班牙国防部长玛格丽塔·罗夫莱斯表示：“这些基地既没有获得授权，当然，使用西班牙领空进行任何与伊朗战争有关的行动也没有获得授权。”她还补充说，这场战争“极其非法，极其不公正”。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。