12:36

Boris Johnson has told parliament that Qassem Suleimani had the “blood of British troops on his hands”.

Answering a question from the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, during the first prime minister’s questions since the British general election, Johnson said the US had the right to defend its bases.

During exchanges that were interpreted as a further move by Britain towards the US position on the killing of the Iranian general last week, Johnson also sidestepped questions from Corbyn about the legality of the killing.

“Clearly the strict issue of legality is not for the UK to determine since it was not our operation,” said Johnson.

“But I think most reasonable people would accept that the United States has the right to protect its bases and its personnel.”

He added that the senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards figure had supplied “improvised explosive devices to terrorists, which I’m afraid killed and maimed British troops”.

He added: “That man had the blood of British troops on his hands.”

Johnson also left open the question of whether Britain would abide by Iraqi wishes for US and British troops to withdraw from the country if the government followed through on a vote taken by the Iraqi parliament. He added that Britain would work to secure the security of people in Iraq from Isis.