Reuters - Three top European Union powers were expected to formally call off moribund nuclear talks with Iran and to advocate sending the dispute to the Security Council when they meet on Thursday, a diplomat from one of the EU trio said.

Reuters - Britain called on Wednesday for the U.N. Security Council to consider action against Iran after it vowed to resume nuclear fuel research and Washington said a referral to the body was "more likely than ever."

Iran's hardline president said his country would pursue its nuclear program despite international concerns.

Agence France Presse - Iran insisted Wednesday it would not give up its nuclear program despite being roundly condemned by world leaders over its resumption of nuclear fuel research, risking possible enforcement action by the United Nations.
 
"This is a sensitive issue. We can not give up our rights, No Iranian will be ready to give up our rights, and they should know that we will remain firm," Iran's former influential president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said.

By Bill Gertz
 
The Washington Times - Iran's resumption of uranium enrichment yesterday will move Tehran closer to full-scale nuclear weapons production, according to U.S. and Western officials and specialists.

U.S. government officials said the move will likely lead to U.N. Security Council action, including sanctions against Iran.

By Nicholas Kralev

The Washington Times - Iran removed U.N. seals at its Natanz uranium-enrichment plant and resumed nuclear-fuel research yesterday, provoking immediate condemnation from the United States and Europe along with renewed threats of Security Council action.

U.S. and European officials began intensive discussions on how to respond to Tehran's move, focusing on a possible emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of governors in Vienna, Austria.

Fox News, WASHINGTON — In the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, Iran on Tuesday unsealed uranium enrichment equipment that the U.N. agency had blocked from use because the Islamic republic was in violation of nuclear non-proliferation rules.

The return to its nuclear program at the plant in Natanz angered U.S. and European officials who say Iran is resuming nuclear research that they believe is part of an effort to build nuclear weapons.

Reuters, Washington - The United States warned Iran on Tuesday that the international community would have no choice but to seek action in the U.N. Security Council if Tehran continued to pursue sensitive nuclear activities.

Washington's reaction came after Iran removed U.N. seals at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant and resumed nuclear fuel research.

NCRI - Oil in international market rose to $64 on Tuesday after Iranian regime, the world's fourth biggest crude exporter, broke U.N. seals at a nuclear power plant in Natanz.

Oil is $5 a barrel higher since late December, even after a retreat on Monday, driven by renewed tension in the Middle East and a rush of investor money.

NCRI - Iran regime resumed nuclear fuel research on Tuesday which drew worldwide criticism.

Western powers had called on the regime to refrain from any work that could help it develop atomic weapons.