The Guardian, Telegraph and Reuters report that the UK has invited military representatives of the US, France and other European countries to a meeting in Bahrain, in an attempt to create an international mission to safeguard shipping through the strait of Hormuz. Whitehall sources said the UK proposal to create a European-led maritime alliance was still alive despite the removal of Jeremy Hunt as foreign secretary, but conceded its success would be dependent on US involvement. The meeting will take place on Wednesday and is not expected to lead to an immediate outcome, with proposals expected to be taken back to national governments for further discussion. Earlier, the US had stepped up ­diplomatic pressure on Germany to send warships to the Gulf. “Members of the German government have been clear that freedom of navigation should be protected,” the US embassy in Berlin said in a statement. “Our question is, protected by whom?”

Reuters reports that the US is set to announce that it will renew sanctions waivers for five Iranian nuclear programmes allowing Russia, China and European countries to continue civilian nuclear cooperation with Iran. President Donald Trump reportedly sided with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over objections by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. Mnuchin argued that: “If the sanctions were not again waived as required by law by Aug. 1, the United States would have to sanction Russian, Chinese and European firms that are involved in projects inside Iran that were established as part of the 2015 nuclear deal”.

The Commander of the type 23 frigate HMS Montrose that is escorting UK ships in the Gulf told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that his crew had had 85 interactions with Iranian forces in 27 days. He said Iranian forces frequently warn UK ships that they are illegally in Iranian waters when they are in fact in international sea lanes. He added that Iranian speedboats regularly try and get close to ships in order to test the Royal Navy response.

BBC News reports that there is “growing concern” for the crew of the UK-flagged tanker seized by Iran in the Gulf. Stena Bulk and Northern Marine Management say that the 23 crew members are confined to the vessel, which is moored off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The President of Stena Bulk, Erik Hanell, has urged the UK and Iranian governments to “find a swift resolution so our 23 valued seafarers can return to their families and move on from this ordeal. We reiterate that there is no evidence of a collision involving the Stena Impero, and at the time of the seizure the vessel was well within the inbound traffic separation scheme and out-with Iranian territorial waters”. BBC News, the Times and Independent report that the captain of the Iranian tanker seized while carrying oil bound for Syria has said Royal Marines used “brute force” in detaining his ship. The captain of Grace 1 said marines made his unarmed crew kneel on the deck at gunpoint. The MoD said the seizure complied with “international rules and norms”.

Reuters reports that Iran and the UAE held maritime security talks on Tuesday to calm tensions in the Gulf, although a Gulf official said the talks were: “A technical meeting that was organised a long time ago to discuss routine maritime issues.” An Iranian official said:  “Iran has always given extreme importance to the security of the Persian Gulf and it needs cooperation among all Persian Gulf states”.

Reuters reports that BP Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary has said that the company has not taken its oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz since a 10 July attempt by Iran to seize one of its vessels and does not plan to take its vessels through the strait. “We will continue to make shipments through there but you won’t see any BP-flagged tankers going through in the short term,” he said.

BBC News reports that a senior US counter-terrorism official has claimed that the failure to bring UK citizens who fought for IS to justice in the UK is a “dereliction of responsibility”. Since the fall of group’s last Syrian stronghold, Baghuz, the US has stepped up efforts to get foreign fighters repatriated. The Home Office says IS fighters should face justice wherever is “most appropriate”. This “will often be in the region where their offences have been committed,” a spokesperson added.

BBC News reports that the UK Supreme Court has been informed that British investigators have enough evidence to prosecute two of the IS “Beatles” in the UK. El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey are accused of belonging to an IS cell that kidnapped and murdered Western hostages in Syria. They are currently being held in northern Syria. The US wants to use evidence amassed by British investigators to put both men on trial there. However, Washington is refusing to give the UK assurances that neither man would be executed if convicted.

The Guardian reports that British defence exports increased to £14bn in 2018, with sales to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other Middle East and North African countries accounting for approximately 80% of that figure. Campaigners said the statistics showed that the UK was “arming and supporting repressive regimes”, while the Department for International Trade said they demonstrated that the UK had returned to its position as the world’s second largest arms exporter after the US. Defence orders rose by £5bn to £14bn, making it the biggest year since records began in 1983.

Reuters reports that Iranian oil exports have dropped in July to as low as 100,000 barrels per day due to sanctions and rising tension with the US and UK, according to an industry source and tanker data, deepening global supply losses.

The Independent reports that experts have warned that “tens of millions of people” could lose access to clean drinking water if a decaying oil tanker is left to collapse or explode in Yemen. The Safer, which holds over one million barrels of crude oil, is stationed permanently around five nautical miles off the rebel-held port of Ras Isa. Since the late 1980s, it has served as an offshore oil storage platform, and is directly connected to a nearby pipeline in the central Yemeni province of Marib. But since war erupted in Yemen in 2014, few maintenance crews have been given access to the 43-year-old ship. Last week, the UN said the Houthis had once again barred experts from assessing the vessel.

The Financial Times reports that former mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Ali Najafi, has become the first former Iranian official to be sentenced to death after being found guilty of murdering his wife in May 2019. His conviction is a blow to reformist politicians in Iran, who had seen the former minister as a potential standard bearer in the 2021 presidential election.

The Guardian and Independent report that the wife of the ruler of Dubai has asked an English court for a forced marriage protection order relating to their children, and a non-molestation order after the breakdown of the marriage. Princess Haya appeared in the family court division of the high court for a preliminary hearing.

Reuters reports that Middle Eastern funds plan to increase their investments in the UAE and decrease their investments in Saudi Arabia, while keeping their exposure to other countries in the region at current levels. In the UAE, “stable oil prices, a wide range of structural reforms and government-led spending initiatives,” as well as underlying earnings growth should lead to accelerating economic growth into next year.

In the Times, Richard Spencer examines why Bashar al-Assad has hitherto been unable to defeat Syrian rebels: “A year ago the Damascus dictator was confidently predicting a swift end to the conflict – but civilians are still being bombed by his warplanes every day”.

In the Israeli media Yediot Ahronot leads with the story that US President Trump is planning a summit with Arab leaders before the September 17 elections in Israel. Trump will reportedly present the outline of his peace plan which won’t propose a Palestinian State or a capital in East Jerusalem. Nahum Barnea believes the summit could help Benjamin Netanyahu’s election campaign even though he is not expected to be invited.

Haaretz quotes security officials who believe that Iranian forces in Iraq pose a threat to Israel. Iran began bolstering its presence in Iraq after Israel stepped up attacks on Iranian targets in Syria and Syrian President Bashar Assad regained control over most of his country. Israel’s efforts to thwart Iran’s attempts to bring sophisticated weaponry and air and naval forces into Syria led Tehran to revert to its old method of relying on local militias, which is harder for Israel to counter. Israeli defence officials say Iran has shifted the bulk of its deployment of missile systems to Iraq, which is harder for Israel to attack than Syria was. The latest airstrikes on Iraq, which the London-based paper Asharq Al-Awsat attributed to Israel on Tuesday, were aimed at such missile systems.

Kan Radio reports that the security cabinet approved Prime Minister Netanyahu’s initiative to build 700 housing units for Palestinians in Area C. One security cabinet minister told Kan Radio that no Palestinian construction in Area C has been approved in years.

The Jerusalem Post reports that the UK’s Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has ordered the Department for International Development (DFID) to disclose audit reports of accounts into which UK aid money was transferred and allegedly used to make payments to Palestinians convicted of terrorist offences against Israelis. The decision overturns a 2018 refusal by both DFID and its internal reviewer to disclose these reports, following a Freedom of Information request made by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) last year.

The Times of Israel reports that Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukon, head of the Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit, has said that: “Iran is trying to take control of the Strip.” Rukon also quoted a statement by an Iranian diplomat to the effect that Iran wanted to create “a united military front from Tehran to Gaza” which he said showed that “the main mission of Hamas” was to be “the military and defence operations arm of Iran.” In a video to Gaza residents, Rukon said “This is the beginning and only you will choose what the end will be.”

Ben Caspit in Maariv writes that although the Netanyahu-Lieberman battle is intriguing and emotionally fraught the pressure right now is on two other players: Amir Peretz from the left, and Itamar Ben Gvir from the right. The burden on the shoulders of the Labour Party-Gesher leader cannot be overstated. He believes he can win over right-wing voters, but knows perfectly well what his fate will be if that hope is dashed… Peretz is currently polling with worse numbers than former leader Avi Gabbay (who won five seats). Once the public realises that the leader of the largest party will receive the mandate to form the next government, Peretz is liable to lose the one and a half seats that separate him from total annihilation (the electoral threshold). In that case, he will officially become the person who destroyed the center-left camp; the person who destroyed the hope of replacing Netanyahu with his own two (left) hands; the person who stuck a spoke in the wheels of the alternative; and who the person who detonated an atom bomb inside the APC. If he somehow survives, or even manages to get eight to nine seats, he will be crowned a magician and will be the godfather of the victory. But the chances of that happening are very slim.

Yuval Karni in Yediot Ahronot discusses recent party mergers, writing that just a few weeks ago we were looking at a starkly different political map: several small parties and splinter parties threatened once again to make the upcoming repeat elections a risk to political stability in Israel. Forty-four lists were on the ballot in the last election; only 11 won any seats. “The rules of the game have changed: anyone who wants to survive politically needs to set his or her ego aside, toe the line and do what it takes to allow for the various pieces of the puzzle to fall into place” adding “The merger of the New Right, the Jewish Home and the National Union Party proved last night that the public in these elections is going to prefer medium-sized and even large parties.”