In the UK press today, the Daily Telegraph reports on William Hague’s comments on Sunday regarding forthcoming EU sanctions on Iranian oil, whilst the Times and the Financial Times report on Iranian warnings to its Arab gulf neighbours not to help the West isolate Iran by increasing their own oil production. The FT carries an opinion piece playing down Iranian threats to blockade the straits of Hormuz whilst the International Herald Tribune prints an article calling on Israel to promote a nuclear free zone in the Middle East. The FT also has a piece on the impact of sanctions in Syria on the general population, whilst the Times reports on the black market arms trade supplying arms to groups in Syria. BBC Online reports on the Syrian regime offering amnesty for crimes committed during the uprising, and Qatar’s call for Arab military intervention in Syria. Both the Telegraph and the Times report an incident in which a Jewish student at LSE was left with a broken nose after objecting to a Nazi themes drinking game being played during a student ski trip.

In other developments, the Independent reports on the forthcoming visit of US Chief of Staff Martin Dempsey to Israel later this week. The IHT reports on developments in Fatah-Hamas unity talks, the Times reports on Mohammed ElBaridei quitting the race to be Egypt’s next president, and the Independent reports that an Israeli lawyer that defended Nazi war criminal John Demanjuk has joined the legal team of former president Moshe Katzav.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Telegraph carried an interview with William Hague, in which he raised concerns that Iran threatens the entire Middle East.  The Sunday Times reported on the most recent among a catalogue of assassinations in Iran attributed to Israel whilst the Independent reported on high tensions surrounding Iran.

In Israel’s media this morning, the front pages are dominated by a strike launched today by local municipalities against cuts in central funding, and by riots that broke out in Jerusalem’s haredi neighbourhood of Me’a Shearim, when police arrested a group of charity workers on suspicion of fraud. The postponement of a join US-Israeli military exercise is also widely reported. Israel Hayom has an interview with Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon in which he states that the US is restricted in its actions against Iran due to electoral considerations, whilst Maariv has an interview with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman calling for action against Iran. Haaretz reports on a US family that is said to be the source of the bulk of PM Netanyahu’s campaign funds. The Jerusalem Post reports on Palestinian threats to end the current round of negotiations on 26 January, after a third meeting between Israeli and Palestinian representatives in Amman over the weekend.