French President Sarkozy: Iran?s refusal to cooperate justifies sanctions

In the UK and international media today, the Guardian notes that the British intelligence listening station, GCHQ, may have played a role in acquiring the information that formed the basis for the conclusions on the Iranian nuclear programme in the recent NIE report. In the Daily Telegraph, Ron Prosor, Israel's new Ambassador to Britain gives his first interview to a British newspaper. He issues a stark warning that Iran may have nuclear weapons by 2009. The Financial Times runs an article by Foreign Secretary David Miliband, on why Britain supports maintaining a tough stance on Iran. The Independent notes that the UK and the US have not given up their demands to further sanctions against Tehran. In related news, the Daily Mirror, meanwhile, notes President George W. Bush's statement that Iran's nuclear ambitions still constituted a threat. Reuters notes reports that President Bush may have been aware as early as August of the information suggesting that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons programme. In other news, Reuters also notes Hamas's calls for renewed dialogue with Fatah. BBC Online, meanwhile, quotes President Bush's calls for Iran to ‘come clean' on its nuclear programme, and has an additional piece on a clash in the Deheishe refugee camp yesterday, in which a Palestinian policeman was mistakenly killed by IDF forces. BBC Online has an additional piece on the new ‘scepticism' which underlay the latest NIE report on Iran's nuclear programme. The Times reports that according to a recent Human Rights Watch report, thousands of Iraqi refugees in Lebanon are being threatened with jail if they do not return to their homes.

In the Israeli media, the Jerusalem Post and Ynetnews note Israel's continued call for increase sanctions on Iran, following the latest NIE report. Haaretz has an article noting Public Security Minister Avi Dichter's decision not to visit the UK because he fears that anti-Israel groups will attempt to use war-crimes legislation to have him arrested. Haaretz has additional pieces on a meeting today to select the head of the Israeli negotiating team with the PA, and a statement by a Hamas official that Palestinian prisoners will be released as part of any deal between Israel and Hezbollah on the release of the kidnapped IDF soldiers. The Jerusalem Post, meanwhile, reports Fatah statements that the movement would fight together with Hamas against Israel in the event of a major IDF operation in Gaza. Ynetnews reports calls for Palestinian unity by Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas regime in Gaza.

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