Sovereignty of Falklands rests with the UK, Britain tells the US

The sovereignty of the Falkland Islands rests with UK, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said ​on Friday after an internal Pentagon email suggested reviewing the US position ‌on the Falklands as punishment for UK’s stance on the Iran war.

“We could not be clearer about the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands. It is longstanding, it is unchanged,” the ​spokesperson told reporters.

“Sovereignty rests with the UK and the islands’ right to ​self-determination is paramount. It’s been our consistent position and will remain ⁠the case,” the spokesperson said, adding that Britain had expressed that position “clearly ​and consistently to successive US administrations.”

The Pentagon email outlined options for the United States ​to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support US operations in the Iran war, including considering reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European “imperial possessions,” such as the Falkland Islands near ​Argentina.

Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno responded to the reports by reiterating his country’s ​willingness to resume bilateral negotiations for a “peaceful and definitive solution.”

Quirno characterized the current status of ‌the ⁠islands, which are sometimes called the Malvinas, as a “colonial situation” and expressed gratitude for international support regarding Argentina’s claims.

“By history, by right, and by conviction: the Malvinas are Argentine,” Quirno said in a post on X.

UK and Argentina fought a brief ​war in 1982 ​over the islands ⁠after Argentina made a failed bid to take them. Some 650 Argentine and 255 British service personnel died before Argentina ​surrendered.

Asked if Starmer thought this was an attempt by the ​US to ⁠put pressure on him to join the Iran war, his spokesperson said: “He has spoken about that and he has also spoken about how that pressure does not affect ⁠him, ​and he will always act in the national ​interest, and that will always remain the case.”