Reuters: U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Thursday the standoff over Iran’s nuclear work was at a “critical phase” but it was not a crisis and Tehran still had a chance to regain international trust.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 02 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking in the southern province of Bushehr, said on Thursday that the world’s major powers had to disarm their nuclear arsenals.

Reuters: The United States does not believe Iran has a nuclear weapon but the danger Tehran will acquire one is an “immediate concern,” U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte said on Thursday.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 02 – Iran has officially informed the United Nations nuclear watchdog that it will resume uranium enrichment and cease all voluntary cooperation with international inspectors if its nuclear file is sent to the UN Security Council, the government-owned Mehr news agency reported on Thursday.

Reuters: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said military force can be used as a “last option” in the fight against terrorism and warned Iran not to curtail cooperation with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.

CBS News: Experiments with high explosives, possibly linked to future nuclear weapons tests, were carried out as recently as 2003 in Iran, sources tell CBS News.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 02 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Thursday that the Islamic Republic would not back down in its efforts to obtain nuclear capabilities, state media reported.