LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The sovereignty of the Falkland Islands rests with Britain, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday after an internal Pentagon email suggested reviewing the U.S. position on the Falklands as punishment for Britain's stance on the Iran war.
"We could not be clearer about the UK's position on the Falkland Islands. It is long standing, 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 U.S. administrations".
The Pentagon email outlined options for the United States to punish NATO allies it believes failed to support U.S. operations in the war with Iran, including considering reassessing U.S. diplomatic support for longstanding European "imperial possessions," such as the Falkland Islands near Argentina.
Britain 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 U.S. 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."
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill; editing by William James)
