BUENOS AIRES — Argentina said on Tuesday it had asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to order the United Kingdom to halt oil and gas exploitation in and around the Malvinas Islands.

Known in Britain as the Falkland Islands, the resource-rich archipelago just off Argentina's southern Atlantic coast has been under British control since 1833. Argentina continues to claim sovereignty over the islands, a dispute that remains unresolved.

"The request filed with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea seeks to preserve Argentina's sovereign rights over its continental shelf and to prevent activities unilaterally and illegally authorized by the United Kingdom from aggravating the dispute recognized by the United Nations," the Argentine presidency said in a statement.

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The filing is part of the arbitration proceedings initiated by the Argentine government on Sept 28 "to defend its sovereignty and the natural resources of all Argentines," the statement said.

Argentina's request invokes provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which holds that any party to the dispute may request the tribunal to issue provisional measures to preserve the respective rights of the parties to the dispute or to prevent serious harm to the marine environment.

The statement also reaffirmed Argentina's legitimate and inalienable sovereign rights over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, as well as the surrounding maritime areas.

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In 1965, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2065, which recognized the existence of a sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Malvinas Islands and called on both governments to pursue a peaceful solution through negotiations.