Guardian: Tehran’s nuclear glue Iran’s nuclear programme was started under the Shah. He wanted the bomb to transform Iran into a Middle East superpower. For many Iranians, however, the real need for nuclear armament was most keenly felt afterSaddam Hussein used chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers and civilians during the eight-year war between the two countries in the 1980s. Iranians felt helpless, at the mercy of the Butcher of Baghdad and without any way to deter him – with barely a whimper of criticism heard from the west against his abuses of international law. As someone who lived then in Iran, I remember those days vividly. One of my Muslim friends however, saw me, his Jewish neighbour, as his protector. Why? As far as he was concerned, Saddam did not care about killing Muslims. But Saddam would think twice before risking the death of thousands of Jews by dropping chemical weapons on Tehran, my friend reasoned, because Israel could obliterate him in response. The sense of irony and pride that my Shia Muslim friend felt protected because my family were living near him in a Tehran neighbourhood has never left me.

Telegraph: Endgame for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran? The Iranian president has promised a ‘telling blow’ against world leaders. But, says Con Coughlin, his recent nuclear posturing is an attempt to shore up his increasingly perilous position at home.

NY Times: Iran’s Two-Edged Bomb Believe it or not, there are some potential benefits to the United States should Iran build a bomb. (I’m speaking for myself here, and in no way for the Air Force.) Five possibilities come to mind…There is reason to believe that the initial shock of a nuclear Iran would soon be followed a new regional dynamic strikingly like that of cold-war Europe. Saudi Arabia and Iraq would be united along with their smaller neighbors by their fear of Iran; the United States would take the lead in creating a stable regional security environment. In addition, our reluctant European allies, and possibly even China and Russia, would have a much harder time justifying sales of goods and technology to Tehran, further isolating the Islamic Republic.

WP: Defiant Iran accelerates nuclear program Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level Tuesday over the vociferous objections of the U.S. and its allies who fear the process could eventually be used to give the Islamic republic nuclear weapons.

LA Times: Iran plans to build 10 more nuclear plants Speaking in Paris, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates again dismissed military action but said that given Iran’s rejections of Western proposals, the international community needed to apply some pressure.  “We must still try and find a peaceful way to resolve this issue. The only path that is left to us at this point, it seems to me, is that pressure track,” Gates said, “but it will require all of the international community to work together.”

Times: Steady, plausible response to Iran is needed — but we’ve seen neither No one can safely assume that a new government would jettison Iran’s nuclear work — the object of pride even for many opposed to the regime — but it might be more willing to talk. That is why, in trying to design new sanctions, effort is rightly being expended trying to shield ordinary Iranians from the worst effects.  In the end, however, that will be impossible if the sanctions are to bite.

AFP: New Iran sanctions move likely ‘within weeks’: Gates Gates told the Fox news channel on Monday night: “I think it’s going to take some period of time, I would say weeks, not months, to see if we can’t get another UN security council resolution.  “Then it provides a legal platform for the EU and individual countries to perhaps take even more far-reaching steps.”

WP: U.S., France criticize Iranian nuclear enrichment plans

FT: Ahmadi-Nejad returns to confrontation

MSNBC: Report: Iran begins controversial nuke process

Reuters: Israel urges “crippling” sanctions now against Iran Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for immediate and “crippling” sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, as it began making higher-grade nuclear fuel in defiance of international censure.  “Iran is racing forward to produce nuclear weapons … I believe that what is required right now is tough action by the international community,” Netanyahu told European diplomats.

FP: Who Wants to Bomb Iran? They’re back! The “Bomb Iran” [more like the crazy crowd] crowd is making a big return to the political center stage after months of puzzlement over what to do about developments in the Islamic Republic. Hawks such as Daniel Pipes and John Bolton are arguing that Iran is dead-set on its pursuit of a nuclear arsenal — and point to developments such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s announcement this weekend that Iran would enrich its uranium stocks to 20 percent to argue that diplomatic avenues have reached a dead end. [Hope Secretary Gates manages to contain the damage these warmongers will inevitably create.  If they rise once more, this would be the biggest gift to the regime.]