BERLIN, April 20 (UPI) -- German left-wing politicians fear Washington will wage a war against Iran as early as this year.
"If you add up all the comments from the (U.S.) government and observers, then there is no doubt we have to expect a war this year," Norman Paech, foreign policy expert of the far-left Left Party, told the online daily Netzeitung.
His comments are a reaction to the remarks of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said Wednesday that if the United States did not see "meaningful measures" from the United Nations Security Council, then "perhaps a coalition of the willing will think about other financial or political measures that could be taken."
German politicians reacted with alarm upon hearing the remarks.
"This reminds me in a fatal way of the U.S. solo attempt against Iraq," Angelika Beer, the left-wing Green Party's foreign policy expert at the European Parliament, told the Netzeitung. "The Americans once again enter a route that may lead to violation of international law and risk a large-scale crisis in the Near and Middle East."
She called on the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, to act as a mediator in the conflict. Solana should do everything to ensure that "this time, Europe with one voice tries to answer the question war or peace in a de-escalating way," she asserted.
The West believes Iran is using its atomic energy program to secretly build nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.
