Reuters: The United States on Sunday warned that Iran faced “painful consequences” if it continued sensitive nuclear activities and said the problem would become increasingly difficult to resolve if the international community did not confront it.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Mar. 05 – Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday that his government was not after “bargaining” over its nuclear program and that Tehran would not be willing to suspend its nuclear research at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Mar. 05 – Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator upped the ante on Sunday as he declared that the Islamic Republic would resume “industrial-scale” uranium enrichment if its nuclear file was referred to the United Nations Security Council.

Reuters: Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged Iran on Sunday to resume talks with Russia and the European Union on its nuclear programme as soon as possible, a day ahead of a key meeting of the U.N. atomic watchdog.

TIME: As the U.N. security Council prepares to debate Iran’s nuclear ambitions—perhaps as early as next week—Bush Administration officials are readying a new intelligence briefing for council members on Tehran’s weapons programs. It will rely mainly on circumstantial evidence, much of it from documents found on a laptop purportedly purloined from an Iranian nuclear engineer and obtained by the CIA in 2004. U.S. officials insist the material is strong but …