9 November 2011 Last updated at 07:25 ET

World press fear strike on Iran after IAEA report

Head of nuclear watchdog IAEA, Yukiya Amano, has been accused of bias by some countries

The world's press has commented widely on the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report into Iran's nuclear activity, with many papers viewing it as a possible prelude to conflict in the region.

Iranian dailies are unanimous in their condemnation of the report, with one describing it as yet another "conspiracy" by the US and Israel against Tehran and an attempt to divert attention from their own domestic and international failures.

In Israel, papers view the report as a vindication of their fears that Tehran is developing a nuclear weapon.

Commentators in the wider Middle East speculate on the impact to the region of military strikes on Iran. In Russia and China, the focus is also on the potential for conflict.

IRAN

Editorial in hard-line Jomhuri-ye Eslami

This American and Israeli conspiracy against Iran is taking shape while their governments are dealing with other crises.

Gholamreza Qalandarian in hardline Qods

Making the nuclear case a security issue is in fact an excuse for the West, particularly the US, to get out of serial failures... Undoubtedly, the recent allegations will further accelerate the Islamic awakening process and spread the protest wave in the Western countries.

Qasem Ghafuri in conservative Siyasat-e Ruz

The great Iranian nation and the Islamic system are not ready to give up their nuclear rights, and they will respond to the agency and the West's biased measures.

Editorial in Arabic-language Al-Vefagh

Anyone waving a stick or a military solution should realise that they will not achieve anything more than the West has achieved so far: failure, disappointment and defeat in the face of the steady Iranian position which is based on logic and justice.

ISRAEL

Nahum Barnea in centrist Yediot Aharonot

This is the time to return and cling to the policy devised by Ariel Sharon when he was prime minister: present Iran as a problem of the world, a problem that can be solved through the international community, in diplomatic, economic or military way.

Yossi Melman in Ha'aretz

The report is actually a victory for the Israeli point of view and somewhat harms American prestige. It completely contradicts the assessment of US intelligence from 2007, which claimed that Iran stopped its secret nuclear programme in 2003.

Nadav Eyal in centrist Ma'ariv

The IAEA report created a real legal argument for attacking in Iran, and it is not worth ridiculing the need for such legal justification.

MIDDLE EAST

Mas'ud al-Hinnaw in Egypt's Al-Ahram

Resorting to the military option would be crazy and would affect not only Iran and Israel but the entire region .... A spark might set the entire region on fire and turn it into hell.

Ayman Mustafa in Oman's Al-Watan

The media frenzy concerning the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear programme reminds me of the famous 'dossier' the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair used to convince the British parliament to invade and occupy Iraq.

CHINA

Editorial in English-language Global Times

The public impulse to attack Iran is gaining traction among US and Israeli policy-makers... Whatever its aims, war wreaks disaster and engenders the human catastrophe. This fact should not be ignored by Western powers simply because it will take place overseas. Humanitarian concerns should transcend all boundaries.

Li Yudong in Guangming Ribao

Clearly, the US is launching attacks on Iran from the two directions of 'assassination-gate' (recent US allegations of an Iranian plot to kill a Saudi envoy) as well as the nuclear issue, and wants to take advantage of these two cases to increase pressure on Iran and thoroughly isolate Iran.

RUSSIA

Irina Popova in Novyye Izvestiya

Considering the harsh rhetoric of the report one may suggest that the document will become a powerful argument for the USA and EU to toughen sanctions against Iran and, perhaps, for a military attack on the country.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.