The Independent and Guardian report that UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s proposal for a European-led maritime security force in the Gulf has been rejected by Iran. Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said any international coalition would bring only insecurity. “There is no need to form a coalition because these kinds of coalitions and the presence of foreigners in the region by itself creates insecurity,” he said. It is also viewed by UK shipping industry experts as not providing a short-term solution to the crisis facing UK-flagged shipping. Iran has dispatched one of its most senior diplomats, Abbas Araghchi, to Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron to find a way out of the impasse. He is said to be carrying a written message from President Hassan Rouhani. The UK envisages a multinational maritime operation that could include countries in the Gulf region. A multinational operation is perceived as faster to set up than an EU mission, as the UK government faces pressure from industry.

Reuters reports that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has stated that Iran will secure the Strait of Hormuz and not allow any disturbance in shipping. “Iran will use its best efforts to secure the region, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, and will not allow any disturbance in shipping in this sensitive area,” Araqchi told French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Reuters reports that Ali Akbar Velayati, a top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praised Iran’s recent downing of a US drone and seizure of a British-flagged tanker as turning points in “Muslims’ struggle”. He told a visiting delegation from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas that Iran and its regional allies would stand with the Palestinians against Israel and the US. Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia’s cabinet said Iran’s interception of commercial vessels in the Gulf violated international law and must be prevented. “Any disruption of the freedom of international maritime traffic is considered a violation of international law and the international community must do what is necessary to reject it and deter it,” the Saudi cabinet said in a statement.

Reuters reports that US Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt told the UN Security Council that an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan cannot rely on global consensus, inconclusive international law and “unclear” UN resolutions, sparking pushback from several countries. Greenblatt and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner have spent two years developing the plan – made up of political and economic components – which they hope will provide a framework for renewed talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Greenblatt said Trump hoped to make a decision “soon” on whether to release the plan before or after an Israeli election in September.

Reuters reports that Syrian state television has said that Israel has struck a strategic area in southern Syria overlooking the Golan Heights, where Western intelligence sources previously said Iranian-backed militias are based. The newsflash did not give details, but said the strike was directed on Tel Haraa, previously an outpost for Russian forces but later taken by Iranian-backed militias. The newsflash referred to the last Israeli attacks at the end of last month when it said its air defences repelled a major attack on some of its outposts on the outskirts of the capital and Homs province.

Reuters reports that Lebanon has accused Israel of threatening its civilian infrastructure after Israel told the UN Security Council that Iran was exploiting the Port of Beirut to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah. Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said that in 2018 and 2019, “Israel found that Iran and the Quds Force have begun to advance the exploitation of the civilian maritime channels, and specifically the Port of Beirut […] The Port of Beirut is now the Port of Hezbollah”.

The Financial Times reports that China has vowed to resist US “bullying” after Washington said it would impose sanctions on Chinese company Zhuhai Zhenrong for transporting Iranian crude in defiance of US restrictions.  China’s Foreign Ministry responded angrily, saying: “We oppose the bullying and sanctions by the US of China’s enterprises and individuals based on US’s domestic laws. We strongly condemn and firmly oppose sanctions on related Chinese companies by the US.”

The Guardian reports that Mark Esper has been sworn in as US Secretary of Defence after receiving Senate confirmation on Tuesday. Esper’s confirmation, by a vote of 90-8, comes after a seven-month vacancy in the post. The immediate concern for Esper will be addressing unfolding crisis with Iran. “First off, he has to get in to the good graces of the president and move the president away from some of the pressure from Bolton and Pompeo, to back down a little and not confront Iran all the time. Maybe he’s smart enough to know how to navigate that and has a pragmatic view of what this could lead to because he’s been there”.

Reuters reports that Lockheed Martin Corp has said it was working to establish alternate supply sources for F-35 parts in the US after the Pentagon decided to remove Turkey from the fighter jet program. “We’ve been working to wind down the Turkish industry involvement and so we have a timeline that we’re working towards … it’s out through March of 2020 that we think it will all be resolved,” CEO Marillyn Hewson said.

The Times reports that almost half of the Royal Navy’s fleet of frigates and destroyers is inactive because of long-term repairs. The Ministry of Defence has admitted that six of its 13 Type 23 frigates and three of its six Type 45 destroyers are in scheduled upkeep and cannot be deployed. The frigates are undergoing engine upgrades and work to extend their lifespan while the destroyers are receiving serious maintenance because they “could not cope with warm waters after problems in the Gulf”. This means that the options open to the Royal Navy to protect commercial shipping and bolster its presence in the region are limited.

The Independent reports that experts have warned that a dilapidated tanker holding over one million barrels of crude oil could explode off the coast of Yemen, sparking one of the world’s largest oil spills. The UN said this week that Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who control the nearby Red Sea port, have refused a technical team access to the decaying Safer tanker. The Yemen-owned vessel was once an offshore platform for vessels landing crude oil from a nearby pipeline to central Marib province. Experts described the vessel as a “ticking time bomb”, saying it is at risk of exploding due to a dangerous build-up of volatile gases released from the oil it carries and a lack of ship maintenance.

Reuters reports that heavily indebted Lebanon has passed a budget seen as a “first step” towards fixing its public finances. Lebanon has one of the world’s heaviest public debt burdens, after years of big budget deficits rooted in waste, corruption and sectarian politics. The government is now trying to put the public finances on a more sustainable footing with a budget to cut the deficit and a plan to fix the state-run power sector, which bleeds funds while inflicting daily power cuts on Lebanese people.

The Independent reports that approximately 11,000 women and children related to Isis suspects are being held in “appalling” and “deadly conditions” in a makeshift camp in north east Syria. Human Rights Watch found overflowing latrines, sewage seeping into tattered tents and inhabitants drinking wash water from tanks which contained worms. The organisation has urged countries to take back the women and children being held by the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration for northeast Syria.

The Guardian reports that a British academic who was kept in solitary confinement in the UAE for almost six months after being accused of spying has lodged a legal complaint with the UN over his treatment. Matt Hedges travelled to the UAE for academic purposes but was arrested and spent months in a windowless state security office, being regularly threatened with torture and interrogated for up to 15 hours a day. He was accused by the UAE of espionage on behalf of MI6 and forced to record and sign a confession.

In the Guardian, Patrick Wintour argues the UK decision to “side with Europe over the US in the Gulf makes practical sense”: “Both Europe and the UK have vowed to continue forms of defence cooperation after Brexit. Both see the benefits. France, in particular, cannot afford to lose its key defence partner. A European maritime operation, especially one proposed by the UK, in or out of the EU, would be a practical sign that future defence cooperation will endure”.

In the Guardian, Suzanne Malone argues that incoming UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson can use his affinity with US President Donald Trump to calm the Iran crisis: “As the standoff in the Gulf continues, the new prime minister must work with the US on a constructive approach to Tehran”.

In the Financial Times, David Gardiner argues that “Iran is running out of incentives to listen to the West”: “Despite Mr Trump’s Twitter-ish vacillation between offers of “unconditional talks” with Iran and threats to wipe the country out, there is not a single incentive left in all of western policy to get anyone in Iran to pay attention. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, says he will not talk or negotiate under threat. But without some form of mediation a miscalculation that triggers war is beginning to look inevitable”.

Haaretz and Maariv report that Israel Democratic Party leader Ehud Barak yesterday apologised to the Arab community and the families of 12 Arab Israelis who were killed by the security forces during riots in October 2000 while he was prime minister. Barak said: “I bear responsibility for everything that happened during my term as prime minister, including the incidents in which Arab Israeli citizens and another Palestinian from Gaza were killed in October 2000. There is no room for demonstrators being killed by gunfire from the State of Israel’s security forces and police. The country is theirs. I express regret and apologise to the families and to Arab society.”

Barak was responding to an op-ed in Haaretz by Meretz MK Issawi Frej who called on Barak to apologise for the deaths. Frej had vetoed a merger between Meretz and Barak’s party, but yesterday he said: “Barak’s remarks are an important start. Barak has opened the door to dialogue with the Arab street, and it’s our responsibility to help him open that door and not to slam it in his face. I thought that the right thing to do was for Meretz to form a joint list with the Labour Party, but Amir Peretz has chosen to go to the right, and now we need to exhaust every chance of creating a strong center-left bloc.” Sources in Meretz said after Barak’s apology that the chances of a merger between Meretz and the Israel Democratic Party were small unless some members of the Labour Party, such as Stav Shaffir, could be brought on board. Kan Radio reports that Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg has not ruled out joining Ehud Barak and his party.

The Likud issued a statement in which it criticised Barak’s apology saying: “Barak’s pathetic apology, which convinces no one, was designed to serve one goal only: to facilitate his merger with Meretz. We’re still waiting for Ehud Barak’s apology for being the most failed prime minister in Israeli history, who fled from Lebanon, who forsook to death an IDF soldier, who did nothing in the face of the lynching in Ramallah, who led to an Intifada and who received 2.3 million dollars from the Wexner Foundation that was run by his friend, the convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.”

Writing in Haaretz, Odeh Bisharat said: “The truth is that this apology is suspect. After all, before the 2001 election, when he ran against Ariel Sharon, Barak also tried to reconcile with the Arab public to win their votes. It was interesting that then, as now, Barak’s apology season tends to correspond with election season. By the way, it was the same when he apologised to Mizrahi Jews for how the Labour Party treated them in the early years of the state.”

Haaretz, Maariv and Yediot Ahronot report the decision by Justice Minister Amir Ohana to remove Justice Ministry Director General Emmy Palmor. Likud sources responded: “Almost every minister replaces his ministry’s director general upon taking office  and this is how it has always been. This is basic governance and this is democracy, the opposite is the exception. It took a left wing justice minister two hours to replace his ministry’s director general in order to ensure that his policy would be implemented. Justice Minister Ohana said that he had decided to replace his ministry’s director general weeks ago.” A senior justice ministry official told Maariv: “This is a peculiar move. It would be proper for the minister to publish the motives for firing a director at a time when almost all activity to implement the minister’s policy is on hold because of the elections.”

Commenting on the dismissal, Yediot Ahronot writes that: “Netanyahu’s larger plan to weaken the law enforcement agencies prompted speculation that Palmor’s ouster was done with a view to the composition of the committee that will choose the next state attorney, since the Justice Ministry’s director general is a member of that committee. Others said yesterday that Palmor’s ouster was Balfour Street’s revenge on Shaked. Still others said that Palmor had been excessively tough on the police in its dealing with the Ethiopian Israeli community’s protests. And still others said that her ouster was the result of the position she took in support of Tel Aviv District Attorney Liat Ben Ari’s appointment as deputy state attorney. And it could very well be that Ohana simply wanted to exercise his prerogative to appoint a director general whom he trusts. With that being the case, now that stateliness and professionalism are on the floorboards, the justice minister doesn’t enjoy the presumption of innocence.”

Ben Caspit in Maariv writes that when Ayelet Shaked replaced Tzipi Livni as justice minister, she didn’t replace Palmor because she realised that Palmor was someone who knew the job, knew the system and who would facilitate the implementation of her planned changes and reforms. And that is precisely what happened. Everyone who spoke with Palmor in the course of Shaked’s four years in office only heard her speak well of  her boss and encountered a civil servant with absolute commitment to the tasks that she was given and, most importantly, she had an impressive track record of successes. Ohana threw all that into the toilet and flushed it down. He adds “Yes, a minister does have the prerogative to replace the ministry’s director general. Some ministers exercise that prerogative, others don’t. The problem is with the timing. Ohana is a provisional justice minister. The likelihood that he will still be justice minister in another two and a half months is all but non-existent. The current government is a transition government. According to the attorney general’s guidelines and in keeping with the High Court of Justice’s ruling, transition governments are forbidden to make senior appointments, including the appointment of ministry directors general.”

Kan Radio reports that a meeting will take place today between the New Right and the United Right. New Right leader MK Ayelet Shaked decided to put the former minister Naftali Bennett at the head of the negotiation team. The main issue in controversy is the composition of the list. Itamar Ben Gvir from Otzma Yehudit and the Zehut Party leader Moshe Feiglin talked today and reached an understanding in principle that should the two parties not merge, they would prefer to run together as a technical bloc, with the understanding that if they run separately, their chances of crossing the electoral threshold are slim.