The online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times report US Secretary of State John Kerry’s appeal to the US Congress House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday not to endorse new sanctions against Iran, which he said would endanger the interim deal struck last month in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear development. The Financial Times online says the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee appeared to agree to hold off on new sanctions. Meanwhile, the Independent i says Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that progress is being made in talks with the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany)which got underway this week, to implement the Geneva agreement.

Meanwhile, the Times reports that Saudi Arabian officials said they wish to play a role in talks between the international community and Iran over its nuclear development, in comments made at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Kuwait. Writing in the Telegraph, Con Coughlin says Britain should actively attempt to guard the West’s valuable relations with the Gulf States, which have been strained over US policy towards Egypt, Syria and Iran.

The Evening Standard reports on the signing of a trilateral water sharing agreement earlier this week in Washington between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is designed to help increase water supplies and replenish the shrinking Dead Sea.

The Independent and Independent i cover the debate in Israel over the decision for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attend yesterday’s memorial event for Nelson Mandela. Netanyahu’s office cited the high cost of such a trip, a particularly sensitive point following revelations last week over perceived extravagant expenditure at the Prime Minister’s residence.

The Financial Times says a forthcoming European court of auditors report will reveal that the European Union (EU) has been paying the salaries of thousands of Palestinian Authority (PA) civil servants in the Gaza Strip who have not worked for up to six years. Many Gazan PA staff ceased to work following Hamas’ violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, although some have apparently continued to receive EU-subsidised salaries.

The Times reports that President Assad’s forces have taken control of a strategic road from Syria’s capital Damascus to the north of the country, following battles in which seven Hezbollah fighters were killed alongside Assad’s troops.

In the Israeli media, Maariv previews the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry in Israel later today and says he will hold the first serious talks with Israeli leaders tomorrow over a permanent nuclear deal with Iran. Meanwhile, Israel Hayom, Makor Rishon and Maariv all cover stories from the Arabic-language media which claim that Kerry  suggested during  his visit to the region last week that Israel retain a security presence in the West Bank for 10 years after the agreement of a peace accord.

Yediot Ahronot and Maariv both report on tensions between Yesh Atid and Jewish Home, who have been unlikely coalition partners in the current government. Following suggestions earlier this week that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid criticised Jewish Home for its stance on the peace process, this morning’s reports say that Yesh Atid MKs blocked a budgetary allocation to settlement development in response to Jewish Home’s opposition to Yesh Atid-backed legislation to increase equality for same-sex couples.

Israel Radio news says police in Jerusalem used crowd control equipment to disperse a protest by ultra-Orthodox residents against the arrest of a religious seminary student who refused to report to an army draft office. The same outlet says the process of drafting such students is already underway, with notices having been sent to 9,500 ultra-Orthodox 18 and 19 year-olds.