Main focus of Thursday, January 12, 2012

Attack on Iran's nuclear programme

According to the IAEA President Ahmadinejad plans to produce nuclear weapons.(© dapd)

Yet another employee of Iran's nuclear programme was killed in a bomb attack on Wednesday. Tehran accuses Israel and the US of masterminding the attack on the 32-year-old professor. Commentators say Israel is behind the bombing but consider the killing justified as a means of stopping the Iranian regime's nuclear programme.

Only drastic measures prevent war

Because Iran has ignored UN resolutions the West is entitled to resort to such drastic measures as murdering scientists, finds the conservative Daily Telegraph: "If the West is indeed waging a clandestine war against Iran, questions inevitably arise as to who is responsible, and even whether their methods are justified. Yet no such qualms have been felt by the regime in Tehran in interfering with its neighbours' affairs, whether sponsoring terrorist groups across the Middle East or supporting the insurgency in Iraq, at the cost of many British lives. ... Certainly, with the regime in Tehran showing no sign of complying with five United Nations resolutions that demand a halt to its enrichment of uranium, desperate measures may be required if the West is to avoid a direct military confrontation that would be in the interests of no one" (12/01/2012)

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Attack won't solve nuclear conflict with Iran

The Israeli foreign secret service Mossad could be behind the attack on the 32-year-old Iranian scientist, the left-liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung suspects: "It wasn't the first attack according to this pattern, and targeted killings are in the standard repertoire of tactics used by Mossad. ... Its former boss Meir Dagan who left the service in early 2011 makes no bones about the fact that he considers sabotage the best means to prevent Iran from getting hold of nuclear weapons - better than a military attack on the nuclear facilities. ... The murders of scientists are obviously intended to have a psychological impact. Iran is pursuing a structured nuclear programme that won't collapse if individual collaborators are killed. It's about spreading terror and fear. Such crimes won't resolve the nuclear conflict with Iran." (12/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Crises / War, » Iran
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Tehran has made the world its enemy

Tehran is blaming the Israeli secret service for the attack on a nuclear scientist. The regime's real dilemma, however, is that almost anyone could have been behind it because Iran has made the whole world its enemy, the liberal daily La Stampa concludes: "The attack is an unmistakable sign of the dramatic escalation of a conflict in which Iran sees itself facing countless opponents. The large number of plausible theories about who was behind the attack demonstrates Tehran's isolation and how unrealistic its ambitious efforts are to be recognised as a 'legitimate' power in the region. Iranian President Ahmadinejad - who is responsible for this isolation - can zoom around the world and boast about his friends in the Caribbean and the Andes as much as he likes, it won't do any good. The truth is that the really important states like China and Russia are unwilling to support Tehran in the event of a military strike against the uranium-enrichment plants that nowadays are enriching far more uranium than is necessary for peaceful purposes." (12/01/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Crises / War, » Russia, » Iran, » China
All available articles from » Vittorio Emanuele Parsi

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