Britain, EU to ramp up pressure on Iran

Europe rapidly intensified pressure on Iran on Thursday, while a newspaper report suggested Tehran would target U.S. bases in Germany in the event of airstrikes against the regime.

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European Union foreign ministers were due to meet in Brussels to discuss tighter economic sanctions, with their resolve toughened in the wake of Tuesday's attack by protesters on the British Embassy in Tehran.

The rapid escalation in tensions between Iran and Western countries appeared to focus attention on the practicalities of possible military intervention against Tehran ? and the likely fallout.

In Germany, the mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported that Iran could attack U.S. military bases there should the country become the target of U.S. airstrikes because of its nuclear program. The publication cited sources in the German Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Bild said the Federal Prosecutor?s Office has initiated preliminary proceedings against a German businessman on the grounds of suspected of spying and having "conspiratorial contacts" with the Iranian Embassy in Berlin.

Story: Cameron: Iran faces 'serious consequences' for failing to protect British Embassy

Meanwhile, the top U.S. military officer said he did not know whether Israel would alert Washington ahead of time if it decided to strike Iran.

Iran has warned it will respond to any attacks by hitting Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, and U.S. interests in the Gulf.

General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged differences in perspective between the U.S. and Israel over the best way to handle Iran and its nuclear program.

Dempsey, asked directly whether Israel would alert the United States ahead of time if it chose to go forward with military action against Iran, replied flatly: "I don't know."

Dempsey said the U.S. was convinced sanctions and diplomatic pressure were the right ways to take on Iran, along with "the stated intent not to take any options off the table" ?diplomatic language that leaves open the possibility of future military action.

Suspects freed
Iran also released 11 hardline students detained for storming the British Embassy and diplomatic compounds in Tehran.

The semi-official Fars news agency said police released the students late Wednesday, a day after they were arrested for storming and ransacking the embassy and British diplomatic compounds.

Video: Iranians storm British embassy, protest sanctions (on this page)

The mobs' rampage went on for hours, prompting Britain to pull its diplomats out of the country, shutter the embassy in Tehran and order all Iranian diplomats out of the U.K. within 48 hours.

'Additional measures'
France said on Wednesday it was recalling its ambassador from Iran in protest at the incident.

In Brussels, Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday said he would be using the meeting of European governments to call for tougher sanctions, and also blamed the Iranian government for assisting the Syrian government in trying to suppress protests in Syria.

"I hope we will agree today additional measures that will be an intensification of the economic pressure on Iran, peaceful legitimate economic pressure," he said.

Britain has been at the forefront of the international campaign for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which Britain and other Western countries suspect is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon but Tehran insists is peaceful.

Video: Iranian diplomats ordered out of U.K. (on this page)

The storming of British embassy compounds by Iranian protesters complicates the search for a negotiated solution to the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program, and appears to reflect infighting among Iranian factions.

"The incident raises the stakes to the point of very ill-disguised confrontation between Iran and one of the major players in the West," said Mark Fitzpatrick, Iran expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank.

The last round of talks between Iran and the six, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, took place in January in Istanbul and ended with no progress.

Claire Spencer, head of the Middle East program at London think-tank Chatham House, said it was a very sensitive moment in the Middle East, pointing out that Iran backs Syrian President Bashar Assad's government which has faced months of protests.

"This risks all sorts of over-spill effects should things spin out of control. So it's a very difficult moment for those arguing in favor of pursuing the diplomatic channel," she said.

Msnbc.com staff, Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45505360/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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