Falklands

Sovereignty of Falklands “rests with the UK,” Britain tells US after leaked Pentagon email

By Christian Edwards and Vasco Cotovio

The sovereignty of the Falkland Islands rests with Britain, Downing Street said today, following a report that the United States could review its position as punishment for Britain’s stance on the war in Iran.

“We could not be clearer about the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “It is long standing. It is unchanged.”

The spokesperson was responding to an internal Pentagon email reported by Reuters which outlined options for the US to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support the US militarily in its war with Iran.

Those options included reviewing the US position on Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands, as well as suspending Spain from NATO. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been a vocal critic of the US war with Iran.

Responding to the report, Sánchez said Friday: “We do not work off emails. We work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States. Spain’s position is clear: absolute cooperation with the allies, but always within the framework of international law.”

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO allies – who were not consulted ahead of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 – for not sending their navies to help open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed after it was attacked.

The Falklands are a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic. Britain and Argentina fought a 10-week war over the islands in 1982 after Argentina’s military dictator, Leopoldo Galtieri, ordered an invasion.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei, an ally of Trump’s, said in 2024 that his government would set out a “roadmap” toward Argentine sovereignty over the islands. The Downing Street spokesperson stressed that the Falklands had voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of remaining a British overseas territory.