The conciliatory noises being made by Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani ahead of next week’s United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York take centre stage this morning. The Telegraph, Metro, Independent i and Evening Standard all cover Rowhani’s interview on US television in which he claimed that Iran would never build a nuclear weapon and wants “peace and friendship” in the Middle East. The online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times say that the White House did not rule out a meeting next week at the UN gathering between Rowhani and US President Obama, but emphasised that Rowhani’s words must be followed by actions regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme. The Times online notes that French President Francois Hollande has already agreed to meet Rowhani in New York next week. The Guardian online reports that Rowhani will pointedly travel to New York with the Iranian parliament’s only Jewish MP to attempt to display that the Tehran regime opposes Israel, not Jews.

Writing in the Telegraph, David Blair says that diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran can only be made if both display the necessary political will, namely that the US agrees to Iran’s right to enrich uranium and Tehran submits its nuclear programme to full international supervision. An editorial in the Guardian urges the United States to seize an opportunity for diplomacy with Iran, while the Times adds a large dose of caution, noting that Iran is still the supporter of terror and despotism in the region and that Tehran’s apparent softening stance may be the result of dire economic strife.

The Guardian and the online edition of the Telegraph report that Syria’s Deputy Prime Minister has said that the country’s civil war has reached a stalemate and indicated that the Assad regime may call for a ceasefire if peace talks resume in Geneva. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online also covers comments made yesterday by US Secretary of State John Kerry who urged the UN Security Council to act over Syria within the next week and rubbished Russia’s insistence that opposition forces were responsible for the chemical weapons attack last month. Meanwhile, the Financial Times online reports that serious clashes have broken out near the Syria-Turkey border between an Islamist group affiliated to al-Qaeda and other opposition groups.

The Independent i covers comments made by senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat who said that Israel’s apparent demand to retain control of the Jordan Valley in any future peace accord is fuelled by economic factors, not security concerns.

In this morning’s Israeli media, the conciliatory rhetoric of Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani is a major item in both Haaretz and Yediot Ahronot, including the response from both Jerusalem and Washington. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the international community should not be fooled by Rowhani’s charm offensive and that Iran continues to develop its nuclear programme. He said that until Tehran takes concrete action to stop its nuclear development, the world must continue to pressure the Iranian regime. The White House also said that Iran will be judged by actions, not words.

Maariv also covers Rowhani’s recent interview but instead headlines comments made by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who argued in an interview that Syria’s chemical weapons were a response to Israel’s alleged nuclear capability. Maariv says that Putin suggested in a private meeting during a conference, that Israel should disarm any nuclear weapons that it possesses.

Meanwhile, the headline story in Israel Hayom, dominating its first eight pages, is the shocking murder yesterday of two children in Tel Aviv by their father, who threw them from the eleventh floor of a building before plunging to his own death.