Spokesperson Adis Ahmetovic of the SPD’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag has called for a judicial review of the role of U.S. bases in Germany in relation to the Iran conflict. “From the standpoint of the SPD and many international‑law experts, the assault on Iran is incompatible with international law” Ahmetovic told the T‑Online news portal on Thursday. “If the German government comes to the same conclusion, we will have to assess whether the use of sites such as Ramstein is legally permissible-or, when in doubt, whether it can be challenged in court”.
U.S. bases in Germany, notably the air force installations at Ramstein and Spangdahlem, are understood by experts to play a key role in U.S. air operations aimed at Iran. The use of these bases by U.S. forces is governed by the NATO status‑of‑troops agreement and a number of additional bilaterals. Should the Iran war be deemed an unlawful military operation that relies on German‑based U.S. facilities, legal risks for Germany would also arise, lawyers say. An official international‑law assessment from the German government has yet to be released.
Ahmetovic praised the measures taken by European allies in this context. “It is correct that France, Spain and Italy, four central European partners, are currently restricting the use of their infrastructure by U.S. forces” he explained. He stressed that such questions must always be evaluated both politically and under international‑law norms.
Spain had already prohibited the U.S. military from using its airspace for the operation at the outset of the conflict. France, Italy and the United Kingdom have similarly limited U.S. use of their military bases.
