poisoning of Sergei Skripal using a nerve agent in Salisbury, England included the expulsions of 23 diplomats, the largest ever since the Cold War, an act that was retaliated by Russia. A further war of words entailed and relations are deteriorating. 2019 – The sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago is disputed between the United Kingdom and Mauritius. In February 2019, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the United Kingdom must transfer the islands to Mauritius as they were not legally separated from the latter in 1965. On 22 May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly debated and adopted a resolution that affirmed that the Chagos archipelago “forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius.” The UK does not recognise Mauritius' sovereignty claim over the Chagos Islands. Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth described the British and American governments as "hypocrites" and "champions of double talk" over their response to the dispute. 2019 – The Persian Gulf crisis escalated in July 2019, when Iranian oil tanker was seized by Britain in the Strait of Gibraltar on the grounds that it was shipping oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. Iran later captured a British oil tanker and its crew members in the Persian Gulf. Sovereignty disputes Spain claims the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The entire Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory is claimed by Mauritius and the Maldives. The claim includes the island of Diego Garcia used as a joint UK/US military base since the 1970s when the inhabitants were forcibly removed, Blenheim Reef, Speakers Bank and all the other features. There are conflicting claims over the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, controlled by the United Kingdom but claimed by Argentina. The dispute escalated into the Falklands War in 1982 over the islands' sovereignty, in which Argentina was defeated. There is a territorial claim in Antarctica, the British Antarctic Territory, which overlaps with areas claimed by Chile and Argentina. Commonwealth of Nations The UK has varied relationships with the countries that make up the Commonwealth of Nations which originated from the British Empire. Charles III of the United Kingdom is Head of the Commonwealth and is King of 15 of its 56 member states. Those that retain the King as head of state are called Commonwealth realms. Over time several countries have been suspended from the Commonwealth