US Regrets Spain's Decision To Permanently Withdraw Frigate From Combat Group

The United States is "disappointed" with Spain's decision to withdraw its Mendez Nunez (F-104) frigate from the combat group headed by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2019) The United States is "disappointed" with Spain's decision to withdraw its Mendez Nunez (F-104) frigate from the combat group headed by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said.

On Tuesday, two months after "temporarily" withdrawing the frigate from the group amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, Spain announced that the decision was permanent and that the Mendez Nunez would continue its journey on its own.

According to Gleason, as quoted by the Spanish Efe news outlet, the United States was "disappointed with Spain's decision to definitively withdraw the frigate from the combat group" since the US naval crew had already established productive and professional relations with the Mendez Nunez crew.

Spain sent Mendez Nunez to join the USS Abraham Lincoln in late April for a duration of six months in order to improve training and interoperability with the US ships. However, when the United States deployed the combat group to the Persian Gulf amid rising tensions with Iran, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles ordered that the frigate be temporarily withdrawn, saying that the Pentagon had changed its mission from the initial agreement.