Middle East coverage in the UK dailies is dominated by developments at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly taking place in New York. The Independent, Independent i, Daily Telegraph and Times online report yesterday’s speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In particular, they note his description of Israel as ‘uncivilised Zionists’. The Daily Telegraph notes that the United States delegation did not take their seats for Ahmadinejad’s speech, while the UK delegation remained seated following instructions to leave should Ahmadinejad say anything offensive. The Independent article reports efforts by Foreign Secretary William Hague and his German and French counterparts to persuade the European Union to adopt a new phase of sanctions against Iran.

In a related development, yesterday’s Evening Standard reported that Iran tested four missiles, designed to hit a ‘big target’ near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The online editions of the Times and Telegraph report Prime Minister David Cameron’s address to the UN General Assembly, during which he condemned the large-scale violence in Syria, describing it as a ‘terrible stain’ on the UN and condemning those who ‘failed to stand up to these atrocities’, in what is thought to be a reference to Russia and China.

The Financial Times and Guardian report the speech made by Egypt’s new president Mohamed Morsi to the gathering in New York. Without mentioning Israel by name, Morsi strongly criticised Israeli settlements and called for Palestinian independence. In a reference to Iran’s nuclear programme, he also defended the right of all countries to develop nuclear energy.

Away from the UN, the Financial Times, Telegraph, Independent and online edition of the Times report a bomb attack which reportedly destroyed a military headquarters in the heart of the Syrian capital Damascus, close to President Assad’s seat of power. In a separate analysis on the situation in Syria, the Guardian notes that shells from the Syrian fighting strayed over the Israeli border on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times online carries a report on the imprisonment in Iran of President Ahmadinajad’s press adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr. The report speculates that this is the clearest sign yet of a struggle between Ahmadinejad and the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his supporters.

In the Israeli media, the headlines in most dailies are dominated by the UN General Assembly. Yediot Ahronot and Maariv lead with US President Obama’s speech on Tuesday, in which he promised to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but refrained from issuing red lines on Tehran’s atomic development. Yediot Ahronot also gives prominence to Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s speech and his reference to ‘uncivilised Zionists’.

Israel Hayom focuses heavily on this evening’s speech at the UN by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoting his comments in advance of the speech, which noted the failure throughout history of those who have tried to destroy the Jewish people, in an apparent reference to Iran.

Israel Radio News this morning reports comments by Dennis Ross, Obama’s former advisor on Iran and Middle Eastern affairs, who said that gaps are closing between Israel and the United States on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Another Israel Radio News report says that a spokesman for Egypt’s President Morsi commented that the country’s new leader does not intend to alter the Israel-Egypt peace agreement and that security will be restored to the Sinai region.

Meanwhile, Haaretz reports on an internal communication within Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which claims that international sanctions on Iran are causing more damage than previously thought to the Iranian economy. The document also argues that the deteriorating economic situation is fuelling domestic criticism of the current regime ahead of presidential elections in 2013.