US insists Iran sanctions must continue despite intelligence report

The main item of Middle East-related coverage in the UK media today is the US National Intelligence Estimate report on the Iranian nuclear programme, issued yesterday, which suggested that Tehran froze its weapons' plan in 2003. The Independent notes Israeli scepticism regarding the report. BBC Online reports that China has questioned the need for further UN sanctions on Iran following the new NIE report. Several papers note a statement by US President George W. Bush that Iran still constitutes a threat to the region. In other stories, the Guardian reports that President Bush is planning to visit the Middle East in January. The Daily Telegraph and BBC Online note a claim by the Israeli Peace Now movement that the IDF has failed to carry out demolitions of illegal settlement buildings in the West Bank. The Daily Telegraph notes author Martin Amis's call on UK Muslims to condemn suicide bombings. 

In the Israeli media, all papers focus on the NIE report, and the Israeli response of official scepticism toward its claim of an Iranian freeze of its nuclear weapons programme. Haaretz has an analysis recommending that the US begin talks with Iran. All papers note reports that President Bush is to visit Israel in January. Ynetnews, meanwhile, notes internal dissatisfaction in the Israeli Labour party with the leadership of Ehud Barak. Maariv has an interview with Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, in which he refers to the 2006 Lebanon War as a ‘missed opportunity' and notes the need to change the ‘methods of management' in the IDF. 

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