Hunt says cannot envisage Britain joining U.S.-led war with Iran

FILE PHOTO: Conservative Party leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt leaves his home in London

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain does not expect the United States to request that the United Kingdom joins a war with Iran and London would be unlikely to agree to join such a conflict, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Tuesday.

"The U.S. is our closest ally, we talk to them the whole time, we consider any requests that they say carefully, but I cannot envisage any situation where they request or we agree to any moves to go to war," Hunt told parliament.

"The message we are sending with our partners in the European Union particularly the French and the Germans is that with respect to Iran's nuclear programme, this is a crucial week.

"It is absolutely essential that they stick to that deal in its entirety for it to preserve and for us to have a nuclear free middle east," Hunt said.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden)