Iran-related stories widely feature in the British media this morning. The Daily Mirror focuses on the latest US National Intelligence Assessment, which found that Iran was making rapid progress in its military nuclear programme. The Guardian publishes an analysis by Israeli journalists Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv on Israel’s determination to maintain its monopoly on nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The writers caution against the perception that an operation against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will resemble previous actions against Iraq and Syria. The Financial Times and the Guardian report on the discovery of another computer virus that resembles the ‘Flame’ virus suspected of spying on computer networks in the Middle East. BBC online reports on the appointment of an Algerian diplomat as a special UN envoy to Syria after former-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan resigned recently. The Independent and the Times note ongoing tensions in Sinai as Egypt extends its operation to root-out terrorist activity in the peninsula. BBC online reports that Bedouin tribal leaders in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula have given their backing to the Egyptian military offensive to restore security in the lawless region. The Guardian reports that the Syrian regime retains considerable military resilience in terms of personnel and equipment over rebel forces. The Times notes the impact of the conflict in Syria on the divided communities in Lebanon.

Growing alarm regarding Iran’s progress towards nuclear capability dominates the Israeli headlines this morning. Yediot Ahronot’s front-page story and a broader weekend magazine article suggests that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak are determined to attack Iran this coming autumn, prior to the US presidential election, despite opposition from top military officials.  Ronen Bergman writes in Yediot Ahronot that the US and Israel are in accord with regard to the intelligence assessment regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and differ only on the question of a possible strike against Iran. Bergman cites US officials as saying that Iran is approaching the so-called “immunity zone,” meaning the point at which its nuclear programme ceases to be vulnerable to an Israeli strike. Maariv publishes a poll suggesting a small majority of Israelis support Israeli action against Iran and trust the political leadership but would not support an attack that was conducted against the advice of the military command. Haaretz leads with a quote from a high-ranking Israeli official who warns that the Iranian threat is greater than the threat Israel faced before the 1967 Six Day War. Haaretz also reports that the head of the Hamas government in Gaza urged Egypt on Thursday to open a vital border crossing closed since gunmen killed 16 Egyptian soldiers last Sunday. The Jerusalem Post reports that Algerian Diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi will replace former UN secretary general Kofi Annan as the special envoy to Syria.