AFP: French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Iran on Thursday that its determination to press on with its controversial nuclear drive risked an Israeli strike that would be a "catastrophe."

Bloomberg: French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iran is taking a "major risk" in developing a nuclear program that may provoke an attack by Israel.

Reuters: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday any attack on Iran would be a disaster and pledged to help find a peaceful solution to the nuclear dispute between the West and Tehran.

UPI: Russian nuclear experts are in Iran monitoring construction of the Middle East nation's first nuclear power plant.

UPI: U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden never said Israel would have to accept Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, his spokesman said Monday.

Washington Post: Iran is using 4,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium and plans to install an additional 3,000 of the devices, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheikh Attar said Thursday in an interview on Iranian state television.

AP: Iran has increased the number of operating centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant to 4,000, a top official said Friday, pushing ahead with the nuclear program despite threats of new U.N. sanctions.

AP: Iran's official IRNA news agency says the government now has nearly 4,000 centrifuges operating in its uranium enrichment plant.

Reuters: U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday the world must increase pressure on Iran to rein in its nuclear program and avoid a situation where Israel feels cornered.

AP: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged Monday that he would step up diplomatic pressure to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons before Israel feels that "its back is against the wall" and might take military action.