The online editions of the Guardian, Times and Financial Times report a public disagreement between France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov over Syria. Lavrov maintains that there is no evidence that Assad’s forces used chemical weapons and disputes the need to threaten military action in Syria. Both the Times and Telegraph highlight a report by Human Rights Watch which concludes that poison gas was fired from a military base controlled by Assad’s troops. Meanwhile, the Guardian online reports that a car bomb on the Syria-Turkey border killed seven people yesterday. The Financial Times includes a feature which claims that international diplomatic attention on Syria’s chemical stockpile could lead to pressure on Israel to reveal details of its alleged non-conventional weapons capability.

The Telegraph, Guardian and online editions of the Times and Financial Times report that in an interview yesterday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei indicated tacit support for possible diplomacy regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme. The Telegraph highlights comments made yesterday by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who told his cabinet that the international community must continue to pressure Iran until it complies with a clear set of actions to halt its nuclear development. In a separate indication of potential change in Iran, the Times reports that the country’s President Hassan Rowhani yesterday appealed to the Revolutionary Guards, a traditionally powerful force in the Iranian regime, to stay out of politics. However, writing in the Independent, Katherine Butler questions whether Rowhani’s charm offensive is really indicative of meaningful change in Iran.

The Guardian online says that the Muslim Brotherhood’s English language spokesman has been arrested in Egypt on suspicion of incitement to violence. Meanwhile, the Telegraph includes a feature on ‘besieged’ international peacekeepers in the Sinai Peninsula, including almost seven hundred Americans, stationed in the area to maintain the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty but now caught in the crossfire of fighting between Islamist groups and Egypt’s military.

The Independent i reports that a Palestinian man was killed when Israeli troops returned fire in the West Bank yesterday, having been shot at while carrying out an operation to arrest a security suspect.

The main item in the Israeli media this morning is the suggestions that both Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and the country’s President Hassan Rowhani are making overtures towards the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Yediot Ahronot’s headline says “Iran Signals Flexibility” while Maariv declares “New Iranian Language.” Haaretz also covers the noises coming out of Tehran while Israel Hayom focuses on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments yesterday in which he set out four conditions which must be met before the international community can consider easing pressure on Iran. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Smadar Peri doubts the sincerity of indications given by Iran’s leadership, saying “Even if they close the [nuclear] facility in Fordow and permit a visit by inspectors, it is difficult to believe that the Iranians will give up their uranium enrichment.  They still want a nuclear option.” Israel Radio news confirms that Netanyahu will meet US President Obama in the White House on 30 September.

Israel Radio news also reports that United Nations’ Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry warned yesterday that the fighting in Syria could spill over into the Golan Heights, drawing Israel into the conflict. The same outlet also reports that an Arab Israeli citizen has been killed in Syria having joined the opposition forces fighting the Assad regime.