Portugal Prosecutors Probe US Use of Lajes Base in Iran War
Inquiry follows Left Bloc complaint over wartime authorisation of Azores airfield for American transit flights
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File photo: Aerial view of Lajes Air Base in the Azores. Photo: Guido Melo, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel has denied any violation of the US–Portugal base agreement or of international law, those Portuguese outlets reported. The government has said authorisations were handled with conditions requiring defensive, necessary and proportionate operations aimed at military objectives, according to Portuguese media summaries of official replies.
Expresso reported that, in parliamentary testimony, Rangel counted dozens of stopovers and overflights at Lajes after mid-February, and said the government consulted senior political figures after a US request around the start of large-scale strikes on 28 February.
Why Lajes matters in the Iran war
Lajes Field on Terceira Island is a long-standing mid-Atlantic hub for US and allied aircraft crossing between North America and Europe or the Middle East. Transit and logistics through the Azores have remained politically sensitive in Portugal as the US–Israel campaign against Iran continues and fuel and shipping disruptions keep pressure on European governments.
Prosecutors have not published findings. No charges have been announced. The inquiry examines alleged legal questions around government authorisation; it does not by itself establish wrongdoing.
