US forced Britain to accept deal allowing Argentina to buy F16 jets

According to three separate sources, Foreign Office representatives received explicit instructions from their American counterparts not to block the weapons agreement.

"There were meetings in the UK and Britain was told in no uncertain terms that this is how the deal would be," one source revealed, the Telegraph reports.

While the UK possessed no formal power to veto the transaction, British diplomats could have lodged protests with both Washington and Copenhagen to attempt to halt the transfer.

The arrangement was finalised during Joe Biden's presidency in 2024, shortly before Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street.

Buenos Aires received two dozen of the American-made warplanes from Copenhagen in December of last year, marking an unusual instance of Western nations supplying military hardware to Argentina.

President Javier Milei welcomed the aircraft with enthusiasm, describing them as his country's "guardian angels" upon their arrival.

Just days before taking delivery of the jets, the Argentine leader said that he was engaged in discussions with the British Government about ending the arms embargo dating back to the Falklands conflict, which sparked a diplomatic row.

The UK maintains a comprehensive prohibition on selling any weaponry or military components to Argentina due to the ongoing territorial dispute over the South Atlantic islands.

Throughout the negotiation process, American officials worked to address British reservations about arming a nation with which it has an unresolved sovereignty dispute.

An Argentine source with knowledge of the discussions said Washington had presented a "strong" argument to London behind closed doors.

The American position centred on the belief that supplying Western military equipment was essential because the preceding Argentine administration had been "flirting with China and Russia".

Two additional sources, comprising one British official and one Argentine representative, verified that these conversations occurred and confirmed American pressure had been applied.

Britain's longstanding policy bars the export of any weapons or components to Buenos Aires, a restriction implemented due to the competing claims over the Falkland Islands that led to the 1982 conflict.

Reports emerged on Friday that the Pentagon has assembled a catalogue of potential retaliatory measures against Nato allies considered insufficiently supportive of the American and Israeli campaign against Iran.

Among the options under consideration is a reassessment of diplomatic backing for European "imperial possessions" such as the Falklands, according to a leaked email.

A spokesman for Sir Keir responded: "We could not be clearer about the UK's position on the Falkland Islands. It's long-standing. It's unchanged."

The Ministry of Defence stated that Britain's commitment to the islands "remains undiminished" and the islanders alone should determine their future.

However, when questioned about the alleged American pressure over the F16 deal, an MoD spokesman said: "We do not recognise these claims."

The Falkland Islands Government said in a statement that 99.8 per cent of islanders voted in favour of remaining as a British Overseas Territory.

It said: "The Falkland Islands has complete confidence in the commitment made by the UK Government to uphold and defend our right of self-determination."

The Falkland Islands, which were first landed on by English explorers some 120 years before Argentina existed as an independent state, are a self-governing British overseas territory.

Britain went to war with Argentina over the islands in 1982, where 225 British soldiers lost their lives defending the territory, as well as 650 Argentine soldiers.