After a flurry of proclamations and counter-proposals over the last few days, Iran announced on Wednesday morning that it still intends to go ahead with resuming parts of its nuclear program at the Isfahan site. This comes after weeks of negotiations with the EU, who hoped to resolve the conflict over Iran's access to and development of nuclear technology without having to resort to sanctions. Iran's actions since Monday however, have led some EU members to call for the matter to be passed on to the UN Security Council.

The capital city daily Berliner Zeitung writes that both sides still have a long ways to go in resolving the conflict. "After the announcement a lot of telephone conversations were held around the world, and a lot of explanations were handed out. The IAEA issued warnings, the US issued threats, and the EU states showed their disappointment. In the end, the confusion was complete." Now, it appears, Iran is definitely going ahead with processing. What next? "Iran can be relaxed going into a possible debate on the nuclear issue in the UN Security Council," the paper writes. "The country has long been a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, has signed the additional protocol on extended inspections, and there is no evidence of the existence of Iranian atomic weapons or the attempt to develop them. But Iran cannot get rid of its rogue state label. And the West should think carefully about imposing sanctions: Oil prices are already at a record high, and the country is a lucrative and rich market." Furthermore, with the US in Iraq and Israel busy pulling out, "Military action is not an immediate option." So, now is the time for the EU to get down to brass tacks, the commentator believes. "The EU representatives are constantly saying what will happen if Iran doesn't do as it's told. But they seldom talk about what good things Iran can expect in return for its cooperation."

But Iran must be careful, warns an editorial in the left-leaning Süddeutsche Zeitung. "Iran's power-players know that they are deeply worrying the West with their atomic ambitions," the paper argues, and thus it is playing on those fears to maximize its advantage. "The leaders in Tehran must, above all, be careful that they don't carry the game too far. Even the Europeans, who actually hoped to prevent sanctions against the Mullahs, are reacting with increasing irritation. It took exactly one day for France -- in the unusual position of agreement with the US government -- to threaten to take the issue to the UN Security Council." And the announcements that the Isfahan plant will begin processing uranium may be the thing that puts them over the edge: "There is a red line which Iran must not cross: If the Mullahs produce uranium gas in the Isfahan plant this week, they will have gone too far," argues the paper. "The international community can forgive Iran for producing hot air, but not uranium gas."

The German business daily Handelsblatt looks at the issue of Iran through the lens of US politics in an editorial under the headline: "Bolton's First Test Case." "Some Europeans may look towards New York with horror these days: US ambassador John Bolton is taking up his post at the United Nations. The man is known as the opposite of a political ballerina." This is a particularly sensitive time for Bolton to begin, writes the paper, what with the ongoing nuclear issues in North Korea and Iran. "In both cases, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bolton has occasionally brought the military option into the field of possibility." But, the editors caution, "Despite the bludgeoning rhetoric of the new US ambassador, panic is not called for." The US wants to play along with Europe on Iran, and Europe, for its part, is going to play along with the UN Security Council if necessary. "The interesting question," opines the daily, "is whether the EU is prepared to go along with sanctions in this case." As for Bolton? "In this process, Bolton is playing 'bad cop,' nothing more. The political baselines are being set by the State Department and the White House. The hardliner has been stuck in a corset."

Germany's other business paper, the Financial Times Deutschland, takes a different tack, looking at Iran in terms of German politics."Ever since rejecting the Iraq war helped him win the 2002 election, Gerhard Schröder has prized foreign policy issues as election themes." Iran hasn't turned into such a matter yet, but that could change. "In the conflict over enrichment of weapons-grade uranium at the research facility in Isfahan, the European strategy is apparently first to demonstrate toughness, and then to threaten economic sanctions." This might heat the situation up, "but the Chancellor can count on the fact that any escalation of the crisis in question will likely help him." With his background and connections, Schröder would have the political advantage in any major crisis. "Still, it remains fairly unlikely that in the end a crisis in Iran is going to move voters in the way Iraq did in 2002. The Iran issue will only really take off in the election under one condition: That is, if the US administration takes the current provocations in Iran as the occasion to escalate the conflict. Only then will Schröder have a big foreign policy issue that will let him make his mark both at home and abroad." This would give him a huge boost over Angela Merkel, his challenger from the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). "The CDU, which so far has only been nervous, will then suddenly have a real problem."

Also on Tuesday, the British government announced it would be engaging in talks with ethnic minorities over the next month in an effort to relieve tensions between authorities and the country's Muslim population. A new police policy of increased on-the-spot security checks focusing on Muslim-looking men has been the source of controversy recently.

The Handelsblatt explores how the recent bombings have affected ethnic relations in Britain. "Far-reaching changes are afoot in British society. Above all, there is the question of how the British will deal with having Muslims in their midst in the future, and how these Muslims will regard the country they have chosen for their home. The dialogue that has been announced is about nothing less than the British version of 'multiculturalism.'" But, of course, more than just a dialogue will be necessary to resolve the current tensions. "Tolerance and mutual respect have long been the cement of society. But tolerance alone cannot bind a society. In the name of laisser-faire, an apartheid society, lacking in coherence, has grown up." Thus, the papers writes, the bombings brought certain hidden features of British culture to light. "The bombs in London have not only cast the multicultural society and its failings into a new and harsh light. They also have made clear the failure of moderate Muslims to separate themselves clearly from global 'Islamofascism.'"