BRITAIN BACKS U.S. STRIKE ON IRAN OIL PLATFORM British Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe backed the United States' attack on an Iranian oil platform on Monday and said it should not worsen the Gulf crisis. "The United States is fully entitled to take military action in exercise of rights of self-defense, in the face of the imminent threat of further attacks," Howe said in a statement issued in London. The United States said its forces destroyed the platform on Monday in retaliation for an Iranian missile attack on a U.S.- flagged Kuwaiti ship last Friday. Referring to that attack, Howe added, "I trust the Iranians will fully understand that continued attacks of this kind will only enhance justification for firm action in self-defense." At a press conferenced in Luxembourg during a meeting of European Community (EC) ministers, Howe was asked about statements from a senior Iranian official who said America was now involved in a full-scale war. "It would be profoundly undesirable and quite unjustified for Iran to react in that way," he said.