Blair delivers blunt 'action' warning to Iran

• Tony Blair issues a clear military threat to Iran

• Follows Iran’s call for Israel to be "wiped from the face of the Earth"

• EU leaders join Blair in condemning Iran

Key quote

"If they carry on like this, the question people are going to ask me is, 'when are you going to do something about this?'" – Tony Blair

Story in full TONY Blair last night issued a clear threat to Iran and suggested that military action against the Islamic republic could no longer be ruled out by the international community.

Departing sharply from Britain's previous cautious stance, the Prime Minister expressed his fury at the president of Iran's call for Israel to be "wiped from the face of the Earth".

The president's comments, following growing unease over Iran's continued nuclear programme, its defiance of a UN inspection regime and its alleged interference in Iraq, have sharply increased international tensions.

Speaking after the European Union leaders' meeting at Hampton Court outside London yesterday, Mr Blair declared that Iran would be making "a very big mistake" if it believed Iraq will distract European and US leaders.

Admitting that he has previously come under pressure to rule out military action against Iran, Mr Blair predicted that in the wake of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments on Israel, he will now face calls to consider that very option.

"If they carry on like this, people are going to believe they are a real threat to world stability," Mr Blair said. "If they carry on like this, the question people are going to ask me is, 'When are you going to do something about this?'"

Describing himself as "very angry" and Mr Ahmadinejad's comments as "a disgrace," the Prime Minister said he held very little hope of Iran changing course without some form of international intervention.

"What they have to do is alter their basic attitude, but the fact that it's being expressed by the president of the country, it doesn't give you a lot of confidence," Mr Blair said. Britain will discuss a response to Iran's "unacceptable" attitude with allies over the weekend.

Israel yesterday called for Iran to be expelled from the UN, and will step up pressure on the US to at least turn a blind eye to any military action it might undertake.

Mr Ahmadinejad, an avowed conservative, earlier this year won the election to replace the moderate Mohammed Khatami. Since then, Iran has been taking an increasingly intransigent line over nuclear issues and Iraq.

Despite repeated warnings from the US, Tehran has persisted with its nuclear energy programme, which Washington says is a cover for atomic weapons research. Until recently, the US has been willing to allow European diplomats to take the lead on the issue, hoping a more emollient approach would pay off.

In recent weeks, however, European patience with Iran has been eroded, both over the nuclear issue and Iraq.

Last month, Britain finally went public with allegations that Iran is training and equipping insurgent forces in southern Iraq, in effect accusing Tehran of colluding in the deaths of UK troops.

Only last month, however, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said military action against Iran would be "inconceivable".

Though merely restating what has technically been Iran's policy for more than two decades, there were signs yesterday that Mr Ahmadinejad's remarks could prove a turning point for the international community.

Russia has previously sided with Iran over nuclear issues, even assisting in the building of Iranian nuclear plants. But yesterday, Moscow accepted that Mr Ahmadinejad had gone too far.

Several European nations, including Britain, yesterday made formal diplomatic protests to Iranian embassies, and EU leaders at Hampton Court issued an unusually harsh condemnation of Iran.

"Calls for violence, and for the destruction of any state, are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community," the 25 leaders said in a statement.

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, yesterday issued a statement demanding Iran's expulsion from the UN: "A state which calls for the destruction of another people cannot be a member of the United Nations."

Israel may have a key role to play in any direct action against Iran. In recent years, US hawks have raised the prospect of supporting the Israelis in mounting such attacks on Iranian targets.

The US has so far tried to avoid being publicly drawn into the row, although the White House said on Wednesday night that the worry over Iran's attitude to Israel "underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear intentions".

Last night, the US State Department ruled out supporting Iran's expulsion from the UN, but insisted that Tehran's agenda must change.

While there was no official response to international criticism from the Iranian government last night, groups close to the leadership in Tehran were unrepentant.

The Revolutionary Guard, a powerful military body to which Mr Ahmadinejad once belonged, last night described Israel as a "cancerous tumour".

"We have no doubts that at the end of the road, the victory of Muslims and the defeat of Israel is inevitable," a guard spokesman told an Iranian news agency, adding that the West should be "afraid".

Europe denounces Iran's 'incitement'

EUROPEAN leaders yesterday condemned "in the strongest terms" a call by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, for Israel to be "wiped off the map".

They said in a statement: "Calls for violence, and for the destruction of any state, are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community.

"Such comments will cause concern about Iran's role. Incitements to violence and the terrorism that it breeds are despicable."

The EU was committed to a solution to the Arab-Israeli dispute based on two states living side by side.