{"id":606094,"date":"2026-09-04T22:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T22:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/606094\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T22:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T22:24:22","slug":"winds-of-change-how-milei-is-stirring-falklands-claim-amid-trump-uk-spat-us-israel-war-on-iran-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/606094\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Winds of change\u2019: How Milei is stirring Falklands claim amid Trump-UK spat | US-Israel war on Iran News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argentina\u2019s President Javier Milei is capitalising on his country\u2019s long-running claim to the Falkland Islands by coupling threats of sanctions over a major offshore oil project with lavish praise for Donald Trump<\/a>, after the US president publicly questioned Washington\u2019s position over the disputed UK territory.<\/p>\n

Milei\u2019s remarks come as relations between Trump and the UK government have deteriorated over the UK\u2019s refusal to support US military action against Iran, and as the right-wing Milei increasingly positions Argentina as one of Washington\u2019s closest ideological allies in Latin America.<\/p>\n

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The UK has administered the Falkland Islands, which Argentina calls Las Malvinas, since 1833. However, as the islands lie off its shores, Argentina claims sovereignty over them.<\/p>\n

The US has traditionally supported the UK\u2019s claim to the territory. But analysts say Trump\u2019s willingness to question established US policy, even if mainly intended as leverage against London, could provide Milei with an opportunity to unite Argentinians around one of the country\u2019s few enduring national causes.<\/p>\n

The question of Argentina\u2019s claim to the islands was raised again this week when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s son, Yair, accused<\/a> the UK of hypocrisy and wrote on\u00a0X in Spanish: \u201cThe Falkland Islands belong to Argentina.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we know.<\/p>\n

What is the dispute over the Falkland Islands?<\/p>\n

The Falklands are a self-governing British overseas territory in the South Atlantic, almost 13,000km (8,000 miles) from the UK.<\/p>\n

Argentina says it inherited sovereignty over the islands from Spain in the 19th century. But Britain has administered the Falklands since 1833 and points both to that long presence and to the wishes of the islanders living there to justify its control. In a 2013 referendum, 1,513 of 1,517 voters backed remaining a British overseas territory.<\/p>\n

The dispute erupted into war in 1982 when Argentina seized the islands.<\/p>\n

The UK, under then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, sent a military force to retake the territory, with 74 days of fighting left 649 Argentine and 255 British service members dead.<\/p>\n

What has Milei said now?<\/p>\n

In a nationally televised speech on Thursday, Milei seized on Trump\u2019s suggestion that Washington might reconsider its position on the islands, and heralded the \u201cwinds of change\u201d he said were blowing in favour of Argentina\u2019s claim to the Falkland Islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States is considering this change in position because it knows that Argentina has a reliable partner, aligned with Western values, in a strategically important position that can be a valuable ally in the decades to come,\u201d Milei said.<\/p>\n

He also announced measures aimed at obstructing development of the Sea Lion oil project, about 220km (140 miles) north of the islands. The Sea Lion field sits in waters administered by the Falklands, and Argentina considers the project an illegal exploitation of resources in waters it claims as its own.<\/p>\n

Rockhopper Exploration, a UK-based oil and gas exploration and production company with interests in the Falkland Islands, and Israel\u2019s Navitas Petroleum are set to begin drilling in the coming months, with oil production expected to begin in 2028.<\/p>\n

Milei also threatened tougher sanctions against companies involved in the project and announced new funding for a naval base in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina\u2019s southernmost province, to strengthen the country\u2019s military presence near the islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cArgentina will not stand idly by,\u201d he said. \u201cAny further advance on the Malvinas Islands will be considered a violation of our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can argue about my style. We can disagree over fiscal or exchange-rate policy,\u201d Milei added. \u201cBut there are causes that rise above any political difference. The Malvinas is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has stopped short of outright endorsing Argentina\u2019s claim to the islands, but he has repeatedly raised the possibility that Washington\u2019s position on the islands could change.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the right-wing GB News in the UK this week, Trump appeared to suggest he might not come to the UK\u2019s aid if a conflict erupts with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.<\/p>\n

He said the UK \u201cwas not there to help me\u201d with the war with Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t need help, but I did ask NATO, and I asked your former leader, \u2018Why didn\u2019t you send a couple of ships?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked separately by the BBC if the longstanding US position on the UK\u2019s claim to the Falklands was under review, Trump said: \u201cI always review every position. That\u2019s just one of many.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s comments followed reports that US defence officials were considering using Washington\u2019s position on the Falklands as leverage to pressure the UK to increase military spending, including the possibility of opposing UK sovereignty over the islands.<\/p>\n

The idea has been around for some time. In April, a leaked Pentagon email proposed reviewing US support for the UK\u2019s position on the Falklands as a way to pressure London over its refusal to support US military action against Iran.<\/p>\n

Christoph Bluth, a professor at the University of Bradford in the UK, told Al Jazeera that the context is crucial.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump has not endorsed Argentina\u2019s sovereignty claim; he has merely said the US position is under review,\u201d Bluth said.<\/p>\n

He added that the idea appeared to have originated \u201cinside the Pentagon as leverage against Britain over defence spending and its refusal to support US action against Iran, not from a reassessment of the Falklands dispute itself\u201d.<\/p>\n

How has the UK responded to all this?<\/p>\n

The UK has reiterated its position. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the UK\u2019s commitment to the islands was \u201cunshakeable\u201d, while a spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the islanders had a right to determine their own future and that the UK\u2019s commitment was \u201cunwavering\u201d.<\/p>\n

Matthew Benwell, a specialist on the Falklands and geopolitics, told Al Jazeera that Trump\u2019s comments would cause unease in both London and Stanley, the Falklands capital, but cautioned against viewing them as a policy change.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage, these are just remarks from President Trump,\u201d he said. Whether they lead to a change in the US sovereignty position or an explicit call for negotiations \u201cremains to be seen\u201d, he said, adding that such a shift looked unlikely for now.<\/p>\n

How can Milei make this situation work in his favour?<\/p>\n

Washington has historically recognised the UK\u2019s de facto administration of the islands without formally taking a position on sovereignty.<\/p>\n

That neutrality has mattered to London. Klaus Dodds, a professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, told Al Jazeera that the UK has traditionally been able to rely on having a closer relationship with Washington than Argentina does.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that has changed,\u201d he said. With Trump still in office and closely aligned with Milei, Dodds said the Argentinian president is likely to view the moment as an opportunity \u201cto take advantage whenever and wherever he can\u201d.<\/p>\n

Milei has appeared repeatedly at pro-Trump events in the US, attended his second inauguration and been called Trump\u2019s \u201cfavourite president\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last year, Trump authorised a $20bn financial lifeline package for Argentina, tying support to Milei\u2019s party succeeding in legislative elections. After his La Libertad Avanza party won, Trump authorised additional imports of Argentinian beef to the US.<\/p>\n

Eleonora Natale, an analyst focusing on Latin American politics, said any US openness towards Argentina on the Falklands had to be seen within that wider relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cMilei has become one of Trump\u2019s closest ideological allies in Latin America,\u201d she told Al Jazeera, pointing to shared positions on security, migration and scepticism towards multilateral institutions.<\/p>\n

Tilmann Altenberg, a reader in Hispanic Studies at Cardiff University, also cautioned against interpreting Trump\u2019s remarks as a settled shift over sovereignty.<\/p>\n

His comments, Altenberg said, were \u201cfirst and foremost a reflection on the relationship between the US and the UK, rather than a deliberate shift in US policy\u201d towards the islands.<\/p>\n

But he said Milei may nevertheless see the current alignment as \u201ca window of opportunity\u201d to advance Argentina\u2019s position and strengthen his hand ahead of the 2027 election.<\/p>\n

Could US support actually affect the dispute?<\/p>\n

Analysts said a genuine change in Washington\u2019s position would be significant, but its practical effects would be limited.<\/p>\n

Dodds said abandoning neutrality would mark a break with a \u201cfundamental tenet of US policy post-1982\u201d and could be read as Trump rewarding Milei while punishing the UK for refusing to support US operations against Iran.<\/p>\n

Bluth said US backing could give Argentina greater international leverage and make companies more cautious about investing in oil projects around the Falklands.<\/p>\n

But, he added, it \u201cwould not be a material change or oblige Britain to negotiate sovereignty\u201d.<\/p>\n

Buenos Aires cannot physically prevent production at the Sea Lion oil field, Bluth added, but it can use sanctions and legal pressure against companies involved in developing it.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s remarks may also have symbolic value in Argentina even before any formal US decision, Altenberg added. In Buenos Aires they \u201cmight be perceived as a sign that the sovereignty question could be tabled before the international community again soon\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argentina\u2019s President Javier Milei is capitalising on his country\u2019s long-running claim to the Falkland Islands by coupling threats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9877,47380,63,5697,42,1154,16632,43,16755,238,40,38,41,39,1299,1032,1156,162198],"class_list":["post-606094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-argentina","tag-border-disputes","tag-europe","tag-explainer","tag-headlines","tag-history","tag-latin-america","tag-news","tag-oil-and-gas","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}