Portuguese prosecutors have launched a probe into the US military's use of Lajes airbase during the war on Iran.
The prosecutors said on Saturday they had opened a probe into the legality of the government's authorization of the United States' use of the airbase in the Azores during the illegal war on Iran.
Opposition lawmakers from the Left Bloc, who said that the center-right government’s authorization of US use of the base violated international law, filed a complaint against the ruling PSD party.
Lajes Air Base, located on Terceira Island in the Azores archipelago, Portugal, is in the Atlantic Ocean 1,600 kilometers west of mainland Portugal.
An antiquated agreement between Lisbon and Washington gives the US military the right to use the airbase without prior authorization during peacetime, but requires Lisbon to approve once a war is started.
Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel has defended the use of the country’s airbase by US forces to launch attacks against Iran, claiming that Lisbon was not involved in the war.
Rangel also claimed that the use of the Portuguese airbase by US forces complied with international law.
He added that the authorization for US forces to use the base in the war against Iran was granted only after Washington assured Lisbon that all the American attacks targeting the Iranian nation would be defensive, necessary and proportionate.
Rangel revealed their agreement specified that US attacks on Iran through Lajes would remain limited to military targets.
Iran has warned world countries against giving US forces access to their military bases, facilities, or equipment to carry out acts of aggression against the country.
Iran has experienced two major rounds of unprovoked US-Israeli military aggression over the past Iranian year (March 2025-March 2026).
The first was a 12-day war in June 2025, during which more than 1,000 people were killed in Iran, including women and children, according to Iranian official figures.
The second round began on February 28, when joint US-Israeli strikes targeted locations across Iran. The war continued for around 40 days before a ceasefire was reached in April.
Iranian health authorities reported that more than 3,500 people were killed during the aggression, including hundreds of women and children.
The two rounds of attacks also resulted in the martyrdom of dozens of senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, as well as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
Civilian and economic infrastructure was also damaged in several parts of the country.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has repeatedly acknowledged that thousands of US military flights, between 4,000 and 5,000, departed from bases in Europe during the 40-day US-Israeli war on Iran.
Rutte described Europe as a “platform of power projection” without which Washington could not have conducted the operation.
Countries including Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, France and Germany were cited in connection with the use of bases, airspace, tankers and logistics.
During both wars, Iranian armed forces responded with forceful retaliatory strikes against the attacking forces, while maintaining military pressure that contributed to the eventual ceasefire.
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