‘Falkland Islands belongs to Britain’, UK official says after US review claims

Downing Street has responded to leaked internal Pentagon email in which US officials argued that Washington could review UK’s claim to the Falkland Islands over its lack of support in the US-Iran conflict.

The email, first reported by Reuters, suggested Washington is reviewing different options to punish Nato allies, including Britain, who showed no support for the US.

For Britain, a US official suggested that Washington should reassess its diplomatic support for European “imperial possessions”, including the Falklands.

As reported by BBC, No 10 spokesman said the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands rests with the UK.

"The Falkland Islands have hugely voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory, and we've always stood behind the islanders' right to self-determination and the fact that sovereignty rests with the UK,” he said.

According to the PM’s official spokesman, the government is very clear about its position on the status and sovereignty of Falkland Island, adding “islanders' right to self-determination is paramount.”

He continued, “We've expressed this position previously clearly and consistently to successive US administrations and nothing is going to change that.”

The Pentagon has not yet commented on the reported email and response of the UK.

Falkland Island settlement is already a point of deep contention based on sovereignty between the UK and Argentina. According to Britain, its claims are legally and morally reinforced by the wishes of the people living there.

In 1982, a ten-week war erupted after Argentine dictator Leopoldo Galtieri launched a military invasion of the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory.

The Reagan administration supported Britain’s efforts under then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government, to retake the islands from the Argentinians, having initially remained neutral.