Britain says it is up to US to set out legal basis for Iran strikes

LONDON - Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey on Sunday declined to explicitly back strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran, saying it was for the U.S. to "set out the legal basis of the action it took".

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the air strikes on Saturday, Iran's state media has confirmed.

Healey told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg that Britain played no part in the strikes, but it did share the aim of the United States and other allies in the region that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon.

Asked if he believed the strikes were within international law, Healey said: "It is for the U.S. to set out the legal basis of the action that it took."

Healey said Iran was retaliating in an increasingly indiscriminate way, targeting civilian airports and hotels as well as military bases.

"We have strengthened the UK defenses in the region, we are active in regional defence operations," he told Sky News.

He said UK aircraft were operating from bases in Qatar and Cyprus and were intercepting drone attacks on bases and allies.

Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Christina Fincher/Reuters