AFP: The EU deal that got Iran to freeze key nuclear activities puts the United States on the spot since Washington must now decide whether to continue confronting Iran as an enemy or join Europe in trying to engage it, analysts and diplomats told AFP. The UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency reported Monday that Iran has pledged to suspend all uranium enrichment activities as of November 22, in time for an IAEA meeting in Vienna November 25 that will decide whether to take the Islamic Republic to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

AFP: European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said Monday a hard-fought agreement clinched by the EU to get Iran to suspend its nuclear uranium drive was “only the start” before a long-term accord. “This is a welcome agreement.

AFP: Iran tried to acquire equipment that could have been used in uranium enrichment at the Lavizan site in Tehran which the United States says was used for developing weapons of mass destruction, the UN atomic agency said in a report Monday. Iran gave this new information only last month about Lavizan, a plot
of land from which buildings and topsoil were removed over the past year.

AFP: Some may see it as a climbdown but, by finally agreeing to international demands it suspend its sensitive nuclear work, Iran is likely to again escape the threat of sanctions and extract some concessions in the process. In an 11th-hour deal with Britain, France and Germany struck late Sunday, the clerical regime agreed to freeze uranium enrichment-related activities to ease fears its fuel cycle work could be diverted to make an atomic bomb.

Reuters: Iran still wants a full nuclear fuel cycle and says Europeans have assented to this goal in an agreement struck to dispel fears Tehran is pursuing nuclear arms, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator said on Monday. “It is no problem if Iran wants to start uranium enrichment,” Hassan Rohani told a news conference broadcast on state television.

AFP: Iran will “suspend” uranium enrichment but will never agree to a total halt, Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday after a crucial deal on easing nuclear concerns was struck with Britain, France and Germany. “We stayed within our red lines, and this red line meant we could suspend enrichment but not stop it,” foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

Reuters: Iran has stressed that its decision to freeze sensitive nuclear work is a voluntary move to dispel concerns it is secretly building atomic arms and that it will last only for a
short time. Iran told the United Nations atomic watchdog on Sunday it would suspend uranium enrichment and processing activities as part of a deal with the European Union to avert any U.N. Security Council sanctions.

New York Times: The governments of France, Germany and Britain are studying a letter delivered Sunday by Iran in which it pledged to suspend uranium enrichment activities temporarily in exchange for economic and political incentives, European officials said.

The Guardian: Iran announced last night that it was freezing all operations connected with uranium enrichment in a diplomatic victory for the European Union and a move that should spare Tehran being sent to the UN security council.