Iranian nuclear crisis / Iran should be allowed to have nuclear weapons

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"If I am right in thinking that an Iranian bomb is not only inevitable, but also corresponds to the wishes of the people of Iran, then perhaps we could turn this whole thing on its head. Perhaps it is time to end the sense of terror, and suspicion, and escalating menace. Perhaps the Americans could actually assist with the technology, as they assist the United Kingdom, in return for certain conditions"

From Give Iran the bomb: it might make the regime more pliable, by Boris Johnson (The Daily Telegraph, 12 October 2006) (view)

"If Iran is bound and determined to have nuclear weapons, let it. The elimination of American opposition on this issue would open the way to genuine normalization between our two nations. It might even convince the Iranians that their country can flourish without nuclear weapons."

From An Offer Tehran Can't Refuse, by Ted Koppel (The New York Times, 2 October 2006) (view)

"while it's seldom a positive thing when a new nuclear power emerges, there is reason to believe that we could readily manage a nuclear Iran... A Middle Eastern arms race is a frightening thought, but it is improbable... Iranian nuclear weapons could be put to three dangerous purposes: Iran could give them to terrorists; it could use them to blackmail other states; or it could engage in other kinds of aggressive behavior on the assumption that no one, not even the United States, would accept the risk of trying to invade a nuclear state or destroy it from the air. The first two threats are improbable and the third is manageable."

From We can live with a nuclear Iran, by Barry R. Posen (The New York Times, 28 February 2006) (view)