Falklands is a pressure point for the UK – and the US knows it

If you need evidence of the geopolitical waves caused by the US war with Iran, the fact that they have now reached the shores of this remote archipelago provides it.

For as long as the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, has been an issue, the official US position has been one of neutrality, while recognising de facto British control. Unofficially, however, they have offered diplomatic and, on occasion, military support to the UK.

This was most evident in the events surrounding the Argentine invasion of 1982, which cost the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel.

The initial US response was to attempt shuttle diplomacy. When that failed, they offered intelligence support, as well as advanced missiles, to the British.

In a BBC documentary in 2002, Richard Perle, assistant US defence secretary at the time, said: "Britain would probably have lost the war without American assistance. That's how significant it was."

The decision to side with the UK has never been a straightforward one, however. Many in the US have an instinctive hostility to what they see as a colonial hangover and the desire to maintain influence in Latin America.

This conflict could be seen in a declassified CIA report from the time, which said the US support for the UK could mean that "relations with several countries (in Latin America will) probably will be cool for a few years". But, that same report also discussed what it called "the special nature of the historical US bonds with the British".

Since then, a lot has changed. Those bonds have been tested like never before, with US President Trump openly hostile to Sir Keir Starmer following his reluctance to join the war in Iran.

At the same time, Donald Trump has found a geopolitical soulmate in the form of Argentina's President Milei. The two men speak warmly of each other, sharing ideological similarities as well as a personal style.

This all comes as the US has also explicitly shifted its focus away from Europe and towards what it calls the "Western Hemisphere" – the Americas.

If the US did change its position to one in which it supported Argentinian claims over the islands, that would be "pretty significant", says Ed Power from Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), as "it might cause other countries to move that way as well".

"You could potentially see a situation where Argentina pushes for some intervention at the UN and the US may support or just not actively block," he said.

According to James Rogers from the Council on Geostrategy, "American diplomats consistently water down or block resolutions pushing Argentine sovereignty" at both the United Nations and the Organisation of American States, a pan continental forum.

The Falkland Islands are considered by the UN to be a "Non-Self-Governing Territory" - and are subject to ongoing discussion by the "Special Committee on Decolonization", which has encouraged discussion between the British and Argentineans.