LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Defence 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.

MOSCOW, March 1 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family was "cynical" murder that violated all the norms of human morality and international law.

By Federico Maccioni, Joe Brock and Tim Hepher

DUBAI, March 1 (Reuters) - Global air travel remained heavily disrupted on Sunday as continued air strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai, the world's busiest international hub, closed in one of the sharpest aviation shocks in recent years.

Key transit airports, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Doha in Qatar, were shut or severely restricted as much of the region’s airspace remained closed after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

KARACHI, Pakistan/BAGHDAD, March 1 (Reuters) - At least nine protesters were killed when crowds breached the outer wall of the U.S. consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi, following news of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iraqi police fired tear gas and stun grenades to scatter hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters also gathered outside the Green Zone in the capital Baghdad, where the U.S. Embassy is located.

"Death to Israel, death to America," the protesters shouted.

March 1 (Reuters) - Airlines continued to cancel flights across the Middle East on Sunday as much of the region’s airspace remained closed a day after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and plunging the region into a new conflict.

Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar remained virtually empty, maps by flight-tracking service Flightradar24 showed, andair strikes kept major Middle Eastern airports, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, shut orseverely restricted.

Pro-Iranian protesters angered by the death of Iran supreme leader Ali Khamenei tried to storm the US consulate in Pakistan's Karachi on Sunday, leaving eight dead, and the fortified Green Zone hosting Washington's embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Iranian state media confirmed the death of Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader since 1989 and sworn enemy of the West, on Sunday, after the opening salvo of a massive US and Israeli attack.

In the Pakistani megacity of Karachi, hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters tried to enter the US mission, an AFP journalist saw.

The United States said Sunday it had destroyed the headquarters of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard force but also announced the first US fatalities in the war to overturn the Iranian government.

US Central Command, or CENTCOM, announced the Guard headquarters destruction in a statement on X accompanied by video of missiles blasting from a US Navy ship, then pulverizing an urban compound.

"America has the most powerful military on earth, and the IRGC no longer has a headquarters," CENTCOM said.

Drones and missiles hit oil facilities and US diplomatic missions in the Gulf on Tuesday as Iran retaliated to fresh strikes.

Here are the latest developments:

- Israel says hit covert nuclear site in Iran -

The Israeli military announced that it struck an underground nuclear site in Iran where it said scientists were "covertly" developing a key component for nuclear weapons.

By Ahmed Elimam

March 1 (Reuters) - Veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, who said on Sunday a temporary leadership council would be set up after an air strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reemerged last year as one of the most powerful figures in the security hierarchy.

He has been managing a broad portfolio from nuclear negotiations to Tehran’s regional ties to its violent suppression of internal unrest.

It's 3:30 am and lights are slowly coming on in the homes lining a narrow Istanbul street as people are woken up by the rhythmic thump of a drum.

Emerging onto a balcony, Sibel Savas and her grandson look down as the drummer -- or davulcu in Turkish -- wanders through the Ayvansaray neighbourhood, his drumbeat waking the faithful for a last meal before the daily Ramadan fast begins at sunrise.