AFP: The standoff between Iran and the international community over its nuclear programme is headed towards “normalisation”, a top cleric said on Friday, despite a row over whether Tehran has fully suspend uranium enrichment. “It is excluded that the issue will come before the UN Security Council. The affair is heading towards normalisation,”
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in a Friday sermon in Tehran.

New York Times: Iran and its European partners struggled Friday to salvage their agreement committing Tehran to freeze an important part of its nuclear program, European and Iranian officials said. But the two sides were so far apart that their talks were put off until Monday.

Washington Post: Despite intense pressure from other nations, Iran failed to provide written assurances yesterday that it was fully suspending its nuclear program, though Tehran’s negotiators promised a commitment would be forthcoming, U.S. and European diplomats said.

The Guardian: Iran agreed to freeze all its nuclear programme last night, dropping its insistence that some uranium enrichment activities be exempted from a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Associated Press: As President Bush sees it, “the only good deal is one that’s verifiable.”
He’s applauding the efforts of some European countries to
get Iran to honor its commitment to refrain from developing nuclear weapons.

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.