Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Mar. 07 – A top Ayatollah told theologians of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, an exclusively clerical body that designates the country’s all-powerful Supreme Leader, on Tuesday that Iran’s nuclear pursuit “guarantees” the existence of the Islamic Republic.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Mar. 07 – Iran’s allies and enemies must know that Iran will not abandon its “rights” to nuclear capabilities, the Islamic Republic’s chief nuclear negotiator said on Tuesday.

AP: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the U.N. nuclear agency to compensate Iran for suspending its nuclear activities since 2003, state television reported Tuesday.

AP: Unless Iran executes a dramatic about-face and suspends all its nuclear activities, the U.N. Security Council will intervene “quite actively,” a senior State Department official said Monday.

Reuters: The United States would want European and other countries to join in imposing travel and financial sanctions on Iran if Tehran refuses to halt nuclear enrichment, a senior U.S. official said on Monday.

Reuters: China urged Iran on Tuesday to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency to defuse a standoff over its nuclear ambitions.