Speaking for the European Union, Blair reacted furiously last week to a call by Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be "wiped off the map". Britain's six-month stint as EU president began in July and ends at the end of December.

Britain was also behind a statement of condemnation issued Friday by the United Nations Security Council.

Asked in the British parliament whether his response carried an implicit threat of military action, Blair said he did not raise the possibility either implicitly or explicitly.

"Nobody is talking about military threats or invasion of Iran," he said during the weekly question-and-answer session.

"The Iranian government has got to understand that the international community simply will not put up with their continued breach of the proper and normal standards of behaviour that we expect from a member of the United Nations."

Meanwhile, a small explosive device went off near the offices of British Airways and oil giant British Petroleum in Tehran Wednesday, a repeat attack that comes amid mounting tensions between Britain and Iran.

"It was a weak charge placed on the stairs. It exploded on the 10th floor of Sayeh building," a witness told AFP. "A door leading to the stairwell was damaged but the offices of the two companies were not. Nobody was hurt."

The two offices were the apparent target of a similar attack on August 2, which also caused very slight damage and no casualties.