Iran Focus

Reuters: A U.N. nuclear agency report due this week is expected to show Iran further increasing its capacity to produce material that its adversaries fear could eventually be put to developing atomic bombs, Western diplomats said on Tuesday.

AFP: Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said on Thursday that nuclear talks with the EU'S foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton were "long and useful" and that both sides have decided to continue the discussions.

Reuters: Iran is prepared to pursue nuclear diplomacy with world powers before or after next month's presidential election in the Islamic Republic, its chief negotiator said on Thursday.

Bloomberg: Members of Congress from both parties today urged Obama administration officials to impose greater economic pressure to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions and punish its human-rights violations.

AP: U.N. nuclear agency officials on Wednesday again failed to reach a deal with Iranian counterparts that would allow the agency to relaunch its probe of suspicions that Tehran might have worked on atomic arms.

Wall Street Journal: U.S. economic sanctions on Iran are likely changing the thinking of its leadership toward its nuclear program, administration officials told a Senate foreign relations panel Wednesday.

Reuters: Iran faces international pressure over its nuclear program in two separate meetings on Wednesday, but no breakthrough is expected with the Islamic state focused on next month's presidential election.

Bloomberg: Iran’s nuclear policy is based on the nation’s rights and will not be modified no matter who succeeds President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi said.

AP: Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman says Tehran's nuclear negotiator is seeking a "constructive" response from the European Union's top diplomat in upcoming talks aimed at possibly restarting wider dialogue with the U.S. and other world powers.

Washington Post: After failing to halt Iran’s nuclear advances with harsh economic sanctions, a group of U.S. lawmakers and analysts is proposing a more drastic remedy: cutting off Iran entirely from world oil markets.

Reuters: Iran expects progress will be made in talks this week with the United Nations' atomic agency, Tehran's nuclear envoy said on Monday, but Western diplomats held out little hope of an end to the deadlock.

Reuters: Iran's nuclear and hydropower facilities are well protected from cyber attacks and even the most powerful earthquakes, Iranian environmental protection chief Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh said on Friday.

AFP: The US Treasury Department on Thursday announced sanctions on a former Iranian-Venezuelan bank it said is being used to avoid restrictions placed earlier on other Iranian institutions.

Wall Street Journal: The Pentagon has redesigned its biggest "bunker buster" bomb with more advanced features intended to enable it to destroy Iran's most heavily fortified and defended nuclear site.

Reuters: Negotiators from the European Union and Iran will meet in Istanbul this month to discuss future diplomatic efforts to resolve a decade-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

Reuters: The self-styled "Sherlock Holmeses" of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, now seeking access to a major Iranian base, say they have the capability to find tiny traces of atomic material at a site even if a country were to try to cover it up.

Reuters: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Iran had not crossed the "red line" he set for its nuclear program, despite an assessment to the contrary by a former Israeli intelligence chief.

UPI: The Iranian government is waiting for word from the international community on nuclear consultations, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said.