The UK has insisted it will retain sovereignty of the Malvinas (Falklands) Islands, after a leaked Pentagon email suggested the US would review the territory\u2019s position as punishment for Britain\u2019s lack of support on the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could not be clearer about the UK\u2019s position on the Falkland Islands,\u201d Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s spokesman, Dave Pares, told journalists on Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s long standing, it\u2019s unchanged. Sovereignty rests with the UK, and the islands\u2019 right to self-determination is paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n
Britain fought a war with Argentina in 1982 over the islands\u2019 sovereignty, a matter that remains\u00a0politically sensitive.<\/p>\n
Pares added that the government was not concerned about the apparent threat from Washington. He said the UK and US have \u201cone of the most important security and defence relationships, if not the closest that the world\u2019s ever seen, and it\u2019s going to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Starmer for failing to fully back his war in Iran. Starmer initially did not allow the use of UK military bases for strikes on Iran, and has since allowed their use only for defensive attacks.<\/p>\n
by Lucy White, Bloomberg<\/p>\n
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