BBC News, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Independent and Reuters report that European powers (the UK, France and Germany) have triggered a formal dispute mechanism over Iran’s breach of key parts of the 2015 nuclear deal – a move that could spell its end. The Telegraph reports that Boris Johnson has called on President Donald Trump to come up with an alternative to the Iran nuclear accord, named a ‘Trump deal’.

BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme interviewed former US White House Advisor on Iran, Rich Goldberg who said Boris Johnson had a big decision to make as to whether he would side with the US and leave the Iran nuclear deal or follow the European track and stick with the deal. Former Foreign Office Permanent Secretary Sir Simon Fraser said there might now be an opportunity for diplomacy with Iran in light of the events of the past week.

The Guardian, Sky News and The Telegraph report that Iran’s judiciary has described the UK’s ambassador to Tehran as “persona non grata” and called for his expulsion, while crowds of regime supporters burned his effigy alongside the British flag.

The Financial Times reports that the Democratic sponsor of a Senate resolution to limit Donald Trump’s military authority in Iran said on Tuesday he had the votes to pass the measure after securing support from four Republicans willing to break with the president.

The Independent reports that Donald Trump reportedly authorised the killing of Qassem Soleimani seven months before he was hit in a drone strike, as NBC News cited five current and former senior administration officials.

BBC News, The Times and The Independent reports that Iran says it has arrested the person who filmed the footage showing a Ukrainian passenger plane being shot down by a missile, asserting a special court will be established to investigate the crash.

Reuters reports that Iranian social media posts urged citizens to take to the streets for a fifth day on Wednesday, after public anger erupted following the belated admission by the authorities that they had shot down a passenger plane in error last week.

The Guardian reports that total of 2,000 Syrian fighters have travelled from Turkey or will arrive imminently to fight on the battlefields of Libya, Syrian sources in all three countries have said, in an unprecedented development that threatens to further complicate the north African state’s intractable civil war.

The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Times report that Germany is to press ahead with a Libya peace conference on Sunday even though talks in Moscow ended fruitlessly, as Libya’s eastern strongman Gen Khalifa Haftar left without signing a ceasefire agreement to end nine months of fighting in the country. The Independent reports that Russia has emerged as the key Libya powerbroker, after the Kremlin assembled the talks.

The Telegraph reports that the government has taken its first steps towards repatriating the children of ISIS fighters on the condition that their mother agrees not to accompany them back to the UK.

Reuters reports that Russian jets struck several rebel-held towns in northwest Syria’s Idlib for the first time since a ceasefire agreed with Turkey came into force two days ago, witnesses and rebels sources said.

Reuters reports that the Syrian army said Israeli jets attacked the main T4 air base in Homs province, saying its air defences downed several missiles in strikes that caused only material damage.

Reuters reports that Lebanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters outside the central bank on Tuesday night, facing off with dozens of people who pelted them with stones and fireworks.

In The Times, Catherine Philp argues that Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, has ‘waded into a fight he cannot win’ in his attempts to assemble a special court to try those responsible for shooting down the Ukraine International plane, as the Iranian regime will not endanger its ‘survival’ by agreeing to the measure.

In The Independent, Ahmed Aboudouh asserts that the Tehran plane crash could have been an opportunity for a ‘diplomatic thaw’ between the West and Iran, but Johnson’s decision to indirectly join Trump’s ”maximum pressure” campaign demonstrates the UK lacks a diplomatic vision vis a vis Iran.

In The Telegraph, Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi contends that European powers have ‘set us on a new and dangerous phase’ in Iran’s nuclear saga by triggering the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s dispute resolution mechanism.

In The Financial Times, Najmeh Bozorgmehr argues Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is presently confronted by ‘one of his biggest challenges over his three-decade rule’, as he seeks to unify a fractured establishment and public anger over the alleged cover-up of the cause of a plane crash last week.

In The Financial Times, Michael Peel highlights European fears over migration from Libya are beginning to increase, as Turkey and Russia have expanded their unlikely alliance in Libya’s growing civil war whilst European leaders are ‘nowhere to be seen’ in the fragile ceasefire process.

In The Guardian, Reza Akbari argues it is possible for Iranian protestors to be protesting against both US intervention and their own regime, and the US assumption that anti-regime unrest means protestors are ‘switching sides’ is ‘simplistic and dangerous’.

Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Defence Minister Naftali Bennett he will be sacked if he doesn’t merge his New Right party with the newly joint Jewish Home-Jewish Power party. Netanyahu is working to ensure that the parties on the far right form one party to minimise the chance of one of the smaller parties failing to win any seats and reducing the size of his potential governing majority. Politicians have until 22:00 this evening to register their parties and candidate lists for the 2 March election. is tonight at 22:00.

Maariv reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu met with leaders of the right-wing-religious bloc in an effort to prevent a Knesset vote to form the Knesset House Committee, which will vote on Netanyahu’s request for parliamentary immunity. The pressure is focused on Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein who has not yet called for a Knesset session but is expected to adhere to his legal advice and convene the Knesset next week. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said yesterday: “It is unthinkable that Netanyahu has asked for immunity and is also asking that that request not be discussed. I am determined to lead to a process of convening the Knesset plenum and forming the House Committee. Not by force, but in compliance with the law. We will do everything that needs to be done so that the meeting is held and the committee is formed.”

Army Radio reports that Israel has started exporting natural gas to Egypt. In a joint statement, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart said the development would “serve the economic interests of the two sides.”  Later today, the energy ministers will participate in a meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) in Cairo, together with energy ministers from Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The ministers are expected to sign a new deal at the meeting to turn the forum into a regional organisation.

Kan Radio News reported this morning that IDF and the Civil Administration personnel entered the illegal Jewish settlement outpost of Kumi Ori near Yitzhar to demolish two houses that had demolition orders issued against them. Representatives of Yitzhar said that the government was disregarding tens of thousands of structures in Arab areas that have been built unlawfully in the West Bank.