AFP: Iran is using its warm relations with Venezuela to dodge UN sanctions and use Venezuelan aircraft to ship missile parts to Syria, an Italian newspaper reported Sunday.

AP: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is warning that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, it could try to attack the United States.

AP: Arab nations concerned about Iran's nuclear program want to meet regularly with the six international powers trying to ensure that it remains peaceful, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.

UPI: The Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran is progressing at a rate that it should be operational no later than March 2010, an Iranian official projected Tuesday.

Reuters: The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany agreed with Arab diplomats to consult regularly on Iran's nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday.

AFP: Arab nations conferred Tuesday with six nations leading international efforts to convince Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, in a first-of-its-kind briefing at the United Nations.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Dec. 16 – Iran is the 7th country in the world that is producing Uranium Hexaflouride (UF6), the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Mohammad Qannadi said on Monday.

AFP: Ministers from the six nations involved in talks on Iran's nuclear program will meet Tuesday at the United Nations with representatives of several Arab countries, diplomatic sources said.

AP: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the sting of international sanctions is forcing at least some Iranian leaders to second-guess the regime's rebuff of world demands that it roll back its disputed nuclear program.

AFP: Germany wants further sanctions to be imposed against Iran, hitting the banking and transport sectors, according to the weekly Der Spiegel to be published Monday.