  The mechanism responsible for spatially localized, strong coupling electron
pairing characteristic of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) remains
elusive and is a subject of hot debate. Here we propose a new HTS pairing
mechanism which is the binding of two electrons residing in adjacent conducting
planes of layered HTS materials by effective magnetic monopoles forming between
these planes. The pairs localized near the monopoles form real-space seeds for
superconducting droplets and strong coupling is due to the topological Dirac
quantization condition. The pairing occurs well above the superconducting
transition temperature Tc. Localized electron pairing around effective
monopoles promotes, upon cooling, the formation of superconducting droplets
connected by Josephson links. Global superconductivity arises when strongly
coupled granules form an infinite cluster, and global superconducting phase
coherence sets in. The resulting Tc is estimated to fall in the range from
hundred to thousand Kelvins. Our findings pave the way for tailoring materials
with elevated superconducting transition temperatures.
