BBC News, the Guardian, Times, Independent, Financial Times report that the International Atomic Energy Agency has stated that Iran has breached the 300kg (660lb) cap on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium set under the JCPOA. Iran stepped up production of enriched uranium in May following the reinstatement of US sanctions after President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the nuclear deal. The move is intended to put pressure on European powers to help mitigate the effect of US sanctions. The UK and Germany have called on Iran to reverse its decision though have resisted calls to re-impose sanctions, while the US said its strategy of ‘maximum pressure’ would continue. President Trump warned that Iran was ‘playing with fire’. Reuters reports that Iran has rejected the Trump administration’s accusation that Tehran was long violating the terms of the JCPOA.

Reuters reports that Mossad Director Yossi Cohen has stated that Israel and US-aligned Arab countries have a unique chance to forge a regional peace deal given their shared concerns regarding Iran. Cohen said Mossad had formed a task force designed to spot peace-making opportunities in the region. ‘The Mossad today spies a rare opportunity, perhaps for the first time in Middle East history, to arrive at a regional understanding that would lead to a comprehensive peace accord’, he told the Herzliya Conference, an annual international security forum near Tel Aviv.

The Financial Times reports that Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has warned that the future of OPEC is in jeopardy because of the growing dominance of Saudi Arabia and Russia in the cartel’s affairs. Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to extend a deal with OPEC to reduce oil output by 1.2m barrels per day by six to nine months, after Iran said it would not block a deal struck between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. ‘I have no difficulty with the extension of the cut […] my problem is unilateralisation’ which is ‘threatening the existence of OPEC’, Zanganeh said. Reuters reports that Iraq’s Oil Minister has stated that OPEC seek to control global oil inventories and restore balance to the oil market which faces ‘huge challenges’.

Reuters reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has sought to curb the powers of Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militias, a move aimed at placating the US. Two weeks after the first of several unclaimed attacks on bases in Iraq hosting US forces and on a site used by a US energy firm, Mahdi issued a decree ordering militias to integrate more closely into the formal armed forces.

Reuters reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Russian S-400 anti-missile systems will begin arriving within 10 days, setting the clock ticking on possible US sanctions. Turkish financial assets jumped on Monday after Erdogan said President Trump had told him at a G20 summit there would be no US sanctions, and the US leader said Turkey had been treated unfairly over the missiles deal.

The Times reports that US aircraft carried out the first strike against jihadist targets in rebel-held Syria for two years, killing al-Qaeda leaders. The strikes on the border of Aleppo province in the rebel-held Idlib pocket struck a base of Hurras al-Din, a jihadist group fighting the Assad regime. This occurred alongside Israel’s decision to strike sites associated with Iran-backed militias in Homs and Damascus, killing a number of fighters.

Reuters reports that US President Donald Trump has stated that he wants to pull US troops out of Afghanistan but is concerned that without an American military presence, the country could be used as a base for terrorist attacks on the US. In an interview on Fox News, Trump said that pulling the 9,000 US troops from Afghanistan was problematic because the country is a ‘lab for terrorists’.

Reuters reports that Turkey has ordered the arrest of 82 military personnel over suspected links to the network accused by Ankara of carrying out an attempted coup in July 2016. Ankara blames US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for masterminding the attempted coup. Gulen has denied any involvement.

The Independent reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that someone is paying ‘serious money’ to suppress investigations into the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia is expected to cut prices of most crude grades it sells to Asia in August after Middle East benchmarks weakened last month. That would mark the first reduction in Saudi crude prices to Asia in five months after sanctions on Venezuela and Iran tightened supplies and boosted prices for replacement oil from the Middle East. The official selling price for flagship Arab Light crude to Asia could fall between 30 and 50 cents a barrel in August after hitting the highest since January 2014 in July.

In BBC News, Jonathan Marcus examines whether the JCPOA can be saved: ‘the Iran nuclear deal is facing its most fundamental challenge yet and what Iran does over the next week or so could well seal its fate’.

All the Israeli media report on the protests after an off duty policeman killed an 18-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli. Haaretz and Israel Hayom note hundreds of people came out to demonstrate near the Zevulun Police Station in the Haifa area and an attempt was made to break into the station. Demonstrators threw stones at the police officers and lit firecrackers. Three policemen were injured. The police responded with stun grenades, and several demonstrators were injured.  The papers also report on the demonstrations that spread to other areas across Israel. Yediot Ahronot includes emotional commentary from Danny Adeno Abebe on its front page. He writes: “I was always optimistic. I always believed that the difficulties that we experienced as the first generation of immigrants from Ethiopia, would be spared from our children. That the second generation would be viewed as through and through Israelis. Not second-class Israelis. Not foreigners. Just Israelis. But time and time again reality has proved us wrong. There isn’t a single Israeli of Ethiopian descent who hasn’t experienced racism in Israel because of the colour of their skin. Almost every young Ethiopian man has been subjected to heavy-handed treatment or, at the very least, has been verbally abused by a policeman in the street. And that’s in the best case. In the less than best case, it’s a blow to the head. And sometimes—too often—it’s a fatal bullet in the abdomen or the head … I was always optimistic. Today I’m afraid that someone might take the law into their own hands and do something very stupid in desperation. We are almost there. It’s only a matter of time. I hear the rage in the voices of the young Sabras in our community. I see the bleeding wound that hasn’t healed after 35 years. I see an entire generation being forced against its will to play the role of a policeman’s punching bag just because their skin is black.”

All the papers report today’s Labour party leadership election. The main candidates are MKs Amir Peretz, Itzik Shmuli and Stav Shaffir. Haaretz compares the fight to ‘fire v ice’: “Shmuli, 39, and Shaffir, 34, are facing off against 67-year-old Amir Peretz, who previously headed the party more than a decade ago. The winner will face a formidable task: Picking up the pieces of the once-dominant party after the most disastrous election result in its history. After Labour garnered a mere six seats in April, Labour Party Chairman Avi Gabbay resigned, the latest in a series of leaders who failed to win over voters.” Shaffir (who the paper relates to fire) “has built her reputation — and a loyal, largely young following — on impassioned speeches that have gone viral on YouTube; confrontations in the Knesset Finance Committee; and inspiring speeches in the United States. She is arguably the best equipped to bring new blood into the party: In the weeks leading up to the primary, a dynamic social media campaign and voter drive succeeded in attracting 4,000 new young members — all of whom signed up in order to vote for Shaffir.” While Shmuli (who the paper refers to as ice), “ is a former IDF tank commander and chairman of the National Union of Students. He is as thoughtful and methodical as Shaffir is brash, outspoken and spontaneous.  In 2018, he won the Israel Democracy Institute’s Outstanding Parliamentarian Award, winning praise for “actively supervising the government’s work through consistently being present in the committees, by submitting queries and proposals for the agenda, and by passing laws that aim to benefit the public. Far more closed and private than Shaffir, Shmuli’s public profile was raised when he came out as gay in 2015 — two years into his first Knesset term — and subsequently shared the struggles he and his partner had endured to become parents through surrogacy. His son Nevo was born just two weeks before the April election to a surrogate in the United States.” Kan news notes that there are 105 polling stations across the country. The results will be released at around 22:30 tonight. If no candidate receives 40 per cent of the votes, a run-off election will be held in another week’s time between the top two candidates.

Yediot Ahronot includes commentary on the latest attack in Syria. Suggesting it: “Does not appear to have been merely another attack on either an Iranian or Hezbollah target in which military equipment that was earmarked for delivery to Lebanon was discovered. This time, it appears to have been a broad attack on Iranian infrastructure in a direct continuation of what began a year ago in Operation House of Cards in May 2018, when Israel assumed responsibility for the attack and declared that it had destroyed 70 per cent of the Iranian infrastructure in Lebanon. The attack on Sunday night, which was attributed to Israel, appears to have been part of an orderly plan to destroy the remaining 30 per cent.”

Maariv reports on Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s speech at the Herzliya Conference where he said: “Netanyahu’s security policy in the last two years has led to an erosion in deterrence and to the latest agreement, which quite rightly has enraged the residents. When people become transparent, our sense of mutual responsibility and sense of belonging wear thin, and that puts our national resilience in danger.” Gantz asserted that the Israeli Government and the Prime Minister have completely ignored the residents from the Gaza periphery communities. Regarding the desired solution in the Gaza Strip, “I know how to restore deterrence. I plan to implement a new security policy against the Gaza Strip, [one that is] simple and resolute: the first stage—restoring deterrence. We’ll pound from the air and resume targeted killing operations.”  Gantz said that a government under his leadership would transition to political activity once deterrence has been restored. “Humanitarian assistance to the residents of the Gaza Strip will be provided in an orderly and continuous fashion, with no suitcases filled with bills, which don’t allow any supervision over the use of the money.”