Britain was embroiled in a fresh diplomatic row with Argentina today after being accused of deploying nuclear weapons to protect the Falklands.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg blasted the ‘unfounded, baseless insinuations’ at an international conference.
Mr Clegg was forced to deny that Trident nuclear missiles were being carried aboard a Royal Navy submarine sent to the South Atlantic.
'Unfounded': Nick Clegg, right, lashed out after Argentine foreign minister Hector Timerman claimed Britain had deployed nuclear weapons to protect the Falklands
He lashed out after Argentine foreign minister Hector Timerman told the Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea that an ‘extra-regional power’ had deployed a sub ‘capable of carrying nuclear weapons’.
Mr Timerman’s inflammatory remarks were intended to goad Britain.
Last month he told the United Nations that there was intelligence that the UK had sent a nuclear-armed Vanguard-class submarine to the waters around the Falklands.
The accusation was so serious because, if true, it would have meant Britain had violated the Treaty of Tlatelolco ensuring Latin America is a nuclear weapon-free zone.
Claims: Timerman told the United Nations the UK had sent a nuclear-armed Vanguard-class submarine to the waters around the Falklands
He first claimed the UK was ‘militarising’ the South Atlantic after the Mail reported that the Royal Navy had despatched a nuclear-powered but conventionally-armed Trafalgar-class submarine to the region following an escalation in rhetoric in Buenos Aires.
The Ministry of Defence refused to comment.
Mr Clegg, who is leading the British delegation at the summit, vehemently rejected Mr Timerman’s renewed assault during meetings at the summit.
‘These are unfounded, baseless insinuations,’ he said.
‘As I’m sure our colleague from Argentina knows, the United Kingdom ratified the protocols to the treaty which guarantees a nuclear weapons-free zone covering Latin America and the Caribbean.
Buenos Aires claimed Prince William's posting to the Falkland Islands was 'provocative'
‘We have respected those obligations since 1969 and we will continue to do so.’
The latest clash between the country’s erupted as tensions rise in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the start of the Falklands War.
On April 2, 1982, General Leopoldo Galtieri’s military junta seized the islands only to be routed in a bloody 74-day war which cost the lives of 255 British troops and 649 Argentines.
But Argentina has ramped up diplomatic pressure over the sovereignty of the windswept islands in recent months.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has urged the UN to intervene in the long-running dispute over the remote, windswept archipelago.
Diplomatic friction between the countries have intensified since 2010, when the Government authorised oil exploration in the waters near the islands.
Buenos Aires branded Prince William’s six-week posting as an RAF search-and-rescue helicopter pilot and the deployment of HMS Dauntless, one of the Royal Navy’s most powerful warships, to the region as ‘provocative’.
President Kirchner also accused Britain of ‘colonialism’, prompting a furious war of words with Prime Minister David Cameron.
She has also tried to organise a ban boats sailing under the Falklands flag from docking at South American ports and threatened sanctions against companies working with firms drilling for oil off the islands.
The people of the Falklands have repeatedly stated their desire to remain linked to the UK
In the face of Argentine sabre-rattling, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond warned that Britain would not hesitate to deploy military reinforcements to the Falklands if there was any threat of an invasion.
The people of the Falklands have repeatedly stated their desire to remain linked to the UK.
In comments released by Downing Street, Britain’s ambassador to the UN Sir Mark Lyall Grant said: ‘Nothing has changed with regards to the British defence posture in the region.
‘Since 1982, we have had to increase our defence posture. We do not discuss the whereabouts of nuclear weapons around the world.
‘We are not looking to start a war of words. We will defend our position and we will defend it robustly and we have no intention of increasing our rhetoric on this matter.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2121227/Nuclear-row-Falklands-Argentina-accuses-Britain-deploying-weapons-protect-Islands.html#ixzz1qNEMCYwH
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