The online editions of the Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Independent and Financial Times report this morning that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei has firmly rejected overtures made by United Sstates Vice President Joe Biden who suggested that US leaders would be willing to meet Iranian counterparts directly in order to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme. However, in a statement yesterday, Khamenei dismissed the idea and accused the United States of “pointing a gun” at Iran.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph online reports comments made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Egyptian television, in which he called on both sides involved in the Syrian civil war to “sit at the negotiating table.” Iran is considered to be the closest ally of Syria’s President Assad, who has so far rejected opposition calls for negotiations. The Independent reports that fighting in the Syrian capital Damascus intensified yesterday, inching closer to the city centre.

The online editions of the Times and Telegraph cover an admission by US Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey and outgoing US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, under questioning at the Senate Armed Services Committee, that they had recommended arming opposition groups in Syria, but the plan had been opposed by President Obama. Meanwhile, the Times reports that US security officials believe the terrorist threat posed by Hezbollah to targets across the world is at its highest level in twenty years. Earlier this week, a Bulgarian investigation concluded that Hezbollah was to blame for a bus bombing at a Black Sea resort in July that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver.

The BBC online includes an interview with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who claims that he is engaged in talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in order to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections and the formation of a Palestinian national unity government. The Independent and its sister publication Independent i also cover this story. The Guardian includes a report on a pilot project which has seen British surgeons from the Royal Liverpool hospital perform kidney transplants at Gaza’s Shifa hospital as a first step to training local staff there to perform such operations. Meanwhile, the Times online reports on the story of an Israeli woman who had a parking ticket overturned in Tel Aviv after CCTV footage revealed that wardens painted a disabled bay around her car after she had parked the vehicle.

The major item in this morning’s Israeli dailies is the ongoing efforts to make progress towards forming a coalition government. The front-page headline in Israel Hayom, which also features heavily in Haaretz, is the news that Prime Minister Netanyahu will meet with Jewish Home head Naftali Bennett early next week. Although Jewish Home and Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu faction would appear to have much common ideological ground, it is widely thought that there is personal animosity between Netanyahu and Bennett and that the two have not met since the latter left his job as Netanyahu’s chief of staff in 2008. Meanwhile, Maariv reports that Netanyahu is working with ultra-Orthodox parties in an attempt to disrupt cooperation between Yesh Atid and Jewish Home. Israel Radio News reports that Shas co-leader Eli Yishai spoke with Bennett by telephone to encourage cooperation between their two parties.

There is also speculation over the diplomatic consequences of President Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel. Maariv reports that hints have been given by officials in the Prime Minister’s Office that Benjamin Netanyahu could make concessions towards the Palestinians in an attempt to advance the peace process with his next government. Meanwhile, writing in Sof Hashavua, commentator Ben Caspit suggests that Obama’s visit may coincide with an international demand for a construction freeze in the West Bank.