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Media Summary

12/11/2013

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The aftermath of weekend negotiations between the P5+1 powers (US, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany) and Iran, in which no agreement was reached, continues to make the headlines this morning. The Telegraph, Guardian and Evening Standard highlight US Secretary of State John Kerry’s comments yesterday which appeared to blame Iran for failure to reach an agreement, emphasising unity among the P5+1 powers. The Times says Israel’s Economy Minister Naftali Bennett will visit Washington and lobby US senators to oppose the deal being discussed between the two sides. The Financial Times reports that Gulf States are increasingly alarmed at the apparent thaw in US-Iran relations. In commentary on the diplomatic developments, Jonathan Steele in the Guardian alleges that Israel, Saudi Arabia and France all wish to scupper any deal between Iran and the international community for reasons other than security. Meanwhile, in the Financial Times, Gideon Rachman argues that the ‘bad cop’ role adopted by France could make it easier to broker a deal, with Iranian ire focused on Paris, not the US.

The Independent, Independent i and Metro all report that Iran yesterday granted international inspectors greater access to the Arak plutonium plant and a uranium mine, after Tehran agreed a “roadmap” for deeper inspections by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials. However, the Independent says the agreement does not include some of Iran’s most important nuclear sites.

Both the Independent and the Times cover yesterday’s announcement that the UK and Iran have appointed respective charges d’affaires, restoring offices ties between the two countries. The Foreign Office is expected to re-open the UK embassy in Tehran, which was closed in 2011 after it was ransacked by crowds.

The Independent online reports yesterday’s reappointment of Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman as Israel’s Foreign Minister, having last week been cleared of fraud and breach of trust charges. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online covers comments made in the Israeli media by Moshe Abutbol, the Shas candidate who was controversially re-elected as mayor of Beit Shemesh last month, who claimed that there are no gays living in the town. Israel’s LGBT community has filed a complaint against Abutbol.

In an opinion piece in the Guardian online, Edwin Black outlines the process in which donor money from international governments, including the UK is received by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and then handed over as salaries to Palestinians in Israeli prisons who have been convicted of terror offences, with amounts increasing according to the severity of the crime committed.

The Telegraph includes a profile and interview with a new Hamas spokeswoman who was educated in Bradford for four years.

In the Israeli media this morning, Israel Hayom leads with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s insistence that the international community drive a tougher bargain with Iran in negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Eitan Haber is critical of the public nature of disagreement between Israeli and American leaders on the issue and predicts that “we are all liable to have to pay the price.”

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot also includes an in-depth feature from its Berlin correspondent Eldad Beck, who travelled to Iran on a foreign passport and spent fourteen days in the country. He concludes that Iran is far more westernised than when he last visited five years previously.

Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom suggest Israel’s defence establishment has recommended gas mask distribution be halted, as the disarmament of Syria’s chemical weapons has lowered the security risk.

Maariv focuses on the aftermath of Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman’s reappointment yesterday as Israel’s Foreign Minister. Yesh Atid is reportedly demanding that its MK Ofer Shelah replace Lieberman as Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, while Prime Minister Netanyahu favours Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi.