Financial Times: Iran’s threat to resume nuclear enrichment-related activities has led to more friction between the three European governments negotiating with Tehran and the Bush administration, which refuses to join the talks, diplomats said yesterday. Nevertheless, the so-called EU3 of France, Germany and the UK are in broad agreement with Washington that they would refer the crisis to the United Nations Security Council if Iran renewed production of uranium hexafluoride gas.

The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. and other nations warned Iran against resuming efforts to produce fuel usable for a nuclear reactor or potentially a bomb, as diplomats gathered in New York for the opening session of a major international arms control conference. While Washington called on Iran to completely and verifiably dismantle its fuel facilities, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said that if the Iranians …

Los Angeles Times: At a key U.N. disarmament conference Monday, the U.S. lashed out at Iran and North Korea for their purported pursuit of atomic weapons and demanded that Iran dismantle its uranium enrichment facilities. But Iran said that it had an “inalienable right” to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and that it might restart its once-secret nuclear energy program. The entrenched conflicts may set the conference up for failure, diplomats said.

Reuters: Iran reiterated on Tuesday it would shortly resume sensitive nuclear work that could be used to make atomic arms, despite the risk of being sent to the U.N. Security Council.
In a deal with Britain, Germany and France last November Tehran agreed to suspend all nuclear fuel-related activities while both sides tried to negotiate a long-term solution regarding Iran’s atomic ambitions.

AP: At a time of growing nuclear tensions in the world, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday urged non-weapons states like Iran to step back from the nuclear temptation, and America and Russia to cut back more sharply on their arsenals.

Reuters: The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog urged Iran on Monday not to follow through on its threats to resume sensitive nuclear activities that could be used to produce atomic weapons. “I would hope that the Iranians would not take a unilateral decision to initiate any activities that now are currently suspended,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters after a meeting with …