Washington Post: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that the United States and its European allies have the votes to bring Iran before the U.N. Security Council for possible censure over its nuclear ambitions, signaling increasing skepticism that continued negotiations with Iran will ever succeed.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran. Jan. 05 – Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad defended his regional ally Iran in its “legitimate right” to carry out its nuclear activities, the official Iranian state news agency reported on Thursday.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 05 – Iran denied on Wednesday a report in the British daily Guardian which said that Western intelligence believed that Tehran was scouring Europe for the sophisticated equipment needed to develop a nuclear bomb.

AP: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signaled Thursday that time is running out for Iran to avoid being hauled before the U.N. Security Council over its disputed nuclear program, and she denied that the threat is mere “saber rattling.”

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 05 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Thursday to push ahead with the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program, including the resumption of nuclear research and development in its massive uranium enrichment site in Natanz, despite a growing chorus of international concerns.