MADRID, March 11 - Spain permanently withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Tuesday as a diplomatic standoff worsened between the two countries over Spain's opposition to the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

The ambassador was summoned back to Spain last September amid a diplomatic row over Spanish measures banning aircraft and ships carrying weapons to Israel from its ports or airspace due to Israel's military offensive in Gaza, which Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar denounced as antisemitic.