Washington Post: Iran appears to be locked in a fierce internal debate over whether to hold bilateral nuclear talks with the United States, with key political leaders calling for dialogue with Washington and hard-liners pressing ahead with expansion of the country’s nuclear facilities.

Bloomberg: The U.S. is also seeking to pressure Iran through economic sanctions as Israel threatens to attack the Persian nation’s nuclear facilities. “We agreed on the importance of holding the international community together to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Clinton said.

AFP: Iran’s foreign minister made a brief stopover in Khartoum, his Sudanese counterpart said Tuesday, with ties between the two states under scrutiny after Khartoum accused Israel of bombing a military factory.

AP: An Iranian lawmaker says the country’s parliament has postponed the implementation of a second round of subsidy cuts until 2013 over fears of stoking already rampant inflation.

AP: Iran said Tuesday it successfully tested a new air defense system modeled after the U.S. Hawk system during a drill in the country’s east. A senior Iranian official called the maneuvers a “slap” to America and Israel.

Bloomberg: Tensions with Iran drove U.S. crude oil prices to a high for this year of $110.55 a barrel March 1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, oil for December delivery dropped 50 cents, or 0.6 percent, to settle at $85.57 a barrel on the New York market.

AFP: President Barack Obama’s national security advisor met Monday with his Israeli counterpart at the White House for talks on the conflict in Syria and Iran’s nuclear program, officials said.

AFP: Iran stressed on Monday that any decision to hold direct talks with the United States on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme would have to be taken by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.