Downing Street has said sovereignty over the Falkland Islands “rests with the UK” after a report that an internal Pentagon document raised the possibility of Washington revisiting its backing for Britain over the South Atlantic territory.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the government’s position was unchanged and that “the islanders’ right to self-determination is paramount”. The response came after Reuters, citing a US official, reported that a Pentagon email circulating internally had set out possible retaliatory measures against allies seen by Washington as having done too little to support US operations against Iran.
According to Reuters, one of the options discussed was a reassessment of US diplomatic support for European “imperial possessions”, including the Falklands. The report described the idea as an internal proposal rather than an announced change in American policy, and there has been no public indication from the White House or State Department of any formal shift in the US position.
Asked about the report, Downing Street said: “Sovereignty rests with the UK, and the islanders’ right to self-determination is paramount.” The spokesman added that the UK’s position was clear and would not change.
The reported Pentagon thinking comes against the backdrop of strains between Washington and some European allies over the Iran war. In March, Sir Keir told MPs that Britain had “not joined US offensive operations” against Iran and would not take part in offensive US strikes, although ministers said the UK had agreed to facilitate specific and limited defensive action.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson, responding to Reuters’ questions about allied support, said European partners “were not there for us”. Associated Press said it had not seen the email and had not independently confirmed its contents.
The Falkland Islands are administered by the UK as a British Overseas Territory, but Argentina continues to claim them as the Islas Malvinas. London has consistently maintained that sovereignty is not up for negotiation unless the islanders wish it, making self-determination the centrepiece of its case.
That position is rooted in the islands’ 2013 referendum, when 1,513 voters, or 99.8 per cent of those who took part, backed remaining a British Overseas Territory. Turnout was 92 per cent. The UK reiterated at the United Nations last year that there was “no doubt” about British sovereignty over the islands.
The latest row is awkward for London because it has sought in recent years to separate the sovereignty dispute from practical co-operation with Buenos Aires. A South Atlantic package agreed in 2024 covered issues including fisheries, flights and the identification of Argentine war dead, but ministers said at the time that it had no impact on UK sovereignty or the islanders’ right to self-determination.
The dispute remains one of the most politically sensitive issues in British foreign policy more than four decades after Argentina invaded the Falklands in April 1982. The 74-day war ended with the surrender of Argentine forces in June that year, after more than 900 people were killed.