If the Iranians thought they could intimidate the British with their attack on its embassy, they have grossly miscalculated. The blowback from the staged assault could very well mean a more united EU in approaching increased sanctions - including a ban on Iranian oil imports. Reuters: "From a political point of view this (attack) cannot, I think, work in the direction of EU member states wanting to ease pressure on Iran," one senior EU diplomat said. "On the contrary." "The whole question is do we go further and add a new set of sanctions apart from those adopted in the past." French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said that following the embassy attack, Paris would push foreign ministers in Brussels to look at sanctions beyond what had already been agreed, especially proposals made by President Nicolas Sarkozy to freeze the central bank's assets and to ban oil imports. French sources say that Paris feels the attack has added to the already long list of factors playing...(Read Full Post)