Argentina’s ambassador to London, Alicia Castro. Photograph: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty

(VOVworld) - Britain said Thursday it had summoned the Argentine ambassador to explain the latest war of words over the disputed Falkland Islands, called the Malvinas in Argentina, which included a threat to prosecute British energy firms operating in the area.

"The UK has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and surrounding maritime areas, nor about the Falkland Islanders' right to decide their own future," a British Foreign Office spokesman said on Thursday. He added that the UK objects strongly to recent statements by the Argentine President and the Argentine ambassador to England and summoned the ambassador to explain.

Last week, Premier Oil Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd said they had made an oil and gas discovery at a well off the south Atlantic islands, the first in a nine-month drilling campaign. Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez called the announcement "provocative", and Argentine officials warned they were planning legal action against oil firms operating near the islands.