Los Angeles Times: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Thursday that Iran had stopped short of meeting its pledge to halt all nuclear enrichment by insisting on a last-minute exemption for some activities. The European-brokered deal for Iran to halt all enrichment threatened to founder when the U.N. atomic watchdog agency’s governing board met here to review Iran’s nuclear program.

New York Times: Iran refused Thursday to abandon plans to operate uranium enrichment equipment that could be used either for energy purposes or in a nuclear bomb-making project, European and Iranian officials said. The refusal threatened to scuttle a nuclear agreement Iran reached 10 days ago with France, Britain and Germany to freeze all of Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, the European officials added.

Washington Post: The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency was unable to confirm that Iran had completely suspended its nuclear programs yesterday, as it had committed to doing, because the Islamic republic said it wanted to continue working with some of its equipment.

The Times: The latest international attempt to persuade Iran
to halt its controversial nuclear programme was badly jolted yesterday by Tehran’s sudden announcement that it planned
to press on with the most controversial strand of the work.

The Guardian: Iran yesterday sought to relax a recent agreement with the EU over its nuclear programme, jeopardising a potential breakthrough in the two-year dispute
as the UN’s chief nuclear inspector came close to saying Iran’s nuclear promises could not be believed.

Reuters: Iran is seeking exemptions from a deal to suspend sensitive nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons just three days after it came into force, the head of
the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Thursday. Tehran’s request threatened to torpedo the hard-won agreement with the European Union and further antagonize Washington, just as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began meeting
to review Iran’s atomic program.

AFP: Iran’s promised suspension of uranium enrichment is not yet complete as it still wants to use 20 centrifuge devices for research, UN atomic agency chief Mohamed ElBardadei said, reporting a deadlock Thursday as his agency met on Tehran’s nuclear program.

AFP: Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Thursday criticised an International Atomic Energy Agency resolution on its nuclear activities drawn up by Britain, France and Germany, state television reported.