Reuters reports that Iran and the US sent mixed signals on Tuesday about resolving their disputes as Iran’s supreme leader threatened to further breach the JCPOA while US President Donald Trump cited “a lot of progress”. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran would keep removing restraints on its nuclear activity and retaliate for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker. Speaking during the US Cabinet meeting, Trump struck a conciliatory note, saying Washington wanted to help Tehran: “We’ll be good to them, we’ll work with them. We’ll help them in any way we can, but they can’t have a nuclear weapon. Reuters reports Oil prices fell by more than 3% after Trumps comments, signalling tensions could ease in the Mideast. BBC News reports that Iran has rejected suggestions it is willing to discuss its missile programme with the US. A spokesman for Iran’s UN Mission said the weapons “are absolutely and under no condition negotiable”. His denial comes after Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that “room for negotiation is wide open” once the US removed its sanctions. Asked if this would include discussions about Iran’s missiles – Zarif said if the US wanted to discuss the programme “they need, first, to stop selling all these weapons, including missiles, to our region”.

The Guardian and Reuters report that US officials suspect that a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker that stopped transmitting its location after straying into Iranian waters may have been hijacked by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Iran insists that the country’s navy came to the assistance of the Panamanian ship after it reported having mechanical problems: “An international oil tanker was in trouble due to a technical fault in the Persian Gulf. After receiving a request for assistance, Iranian forces approached it and used a tugboat to pull it towards Iranian waters for the necessary repairs to be carried out”. US intelligence is concerned that the ship could have become a victim of Iranian manoeuvres intended to put pressure on Washington to lift economic sanctions.

The Times reports that a third British warship and a military tanker are being sent to the Gulf. The Type 23 frigate HMS Kent is due to be dispatched in September and Wave Knight, a tanker from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, will arrive next month. A senior defence source said that both deployments had been long-planned as part of Operation Kipion, the UK’s maritime presence in the Gulf and Indian Ocean, and insisted they were not related to Iran’s aggressive behaviour near the Strait of Hormuz.

Reuters reports that US President Donald Trump has said it is “not fair” to either Turkey or the US that Washington cannot sell Ankara F-35 fighter jets after it bought the Russian S-400 air defence system. Turkey started taking delivery of Russia’s S-400 air defence system last week, in defiance of US warnings that doing so would mean the Pentagon would kick it out of the F-35 stealth fighter programme.

Reuters reports that the US has tightly restricted the travel of more than a dozen Iranian diplomats and their families living in New York. The diplomats are subjected to the same rules imposed by the US on Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who arrived on Sunday. They may only travel between the UN, the Iranian UN mission, the Iranian UN ambassador’s residence and John F. Kennedy airport.

Reuters reports that Portugal has suspended the issuance of entry visas for Iranian nationals for unspecified security reasons, Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva confirmed on Tuesday, adding the move was not related to bilateral relations between the two countries. Answering a question from in a parliamentary committee on whether such a move had been taken, Santos Silva said: “Yes, we suspended those for security reasons … I will provide explanations later, but not publicly”.

BBC News, the Telegraph, Times, Independent and Reuters report that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian woman jailed in Iran for alleged spying, is in a hospital psychiatric ward. Richard Ratcliffe said his wife was being held by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the family feared she was being isolated. It comes after Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, went on hunger strike for 15 days in protest at her detention.

The Times reports that President Emmanuel Macron has demanded an urgent explanation from Iran over the arrest of French academic Fariba Adelkhah, a well-known anthropologist focusing on Iran and Shia Islam who works at the prestigious Sciences Po university in Paris. Macron said he was waiting for an explanation from President Rouhani, adding: “What has happened worries me a great deal.”

Reuters reports that Jordan has appointed a new ambassador to Qatar, a step toward restoring normalised relations two years after Amman withdrew its ambassador in solidarity with Gulf Arab allies who severed ties with Doha. Amman downgraded its diplomatic representation in June 2017, a few days after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain scrapped all ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting Islamist militants. Zeid al-Lawzi, a senior Jordanian career diplomat and secretary general of the Foreign Ministry, was named as the new ambassador.

Reuters reports that an Israeli official has accused Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn of antisemitism. “We don’t decide for the British who to vote for, of course, but we have to state our position. I think Corbyn has proven himself, more than once or twice, to be a figure who quite hates the State of Israel and hates the Jewish people,” Zeev Elkin, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet and Likud party, told Israel’s Army Radio.

The Independent reports that the black flag of Isis has been hoisted in a Syrian camp holding thousands of the terror group’s family members, nearly four months after the caliphate was officially declared defeated. In an online video, women and children can be seen cheering and shouting “baqiya” – the Arabic word for “remaining” – a reference to the Isis slogan “remaining and expanding”. It comes amid warnings of growing radicalisation at the facility.

Reuters reports that major archaeological finds have been revealed by Israeli archaeologists. A huge prehistoric settlement discovered near Jerusalem offers new insight into how civilizations developed around the end of the Stone Age. The 9,000-year-old metropolis, uncovered during a survey before the construction of a new highway, is one of the largest ever found, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.

The Telegraph and Times report that Iran will waive visas for Chinese visitors as early as the end of July in a bid to boost its economy. Tourism officials have said they hope to attract two million Chinese tourists a year to Iran, a massive increase from the 52,000 visiting last year.

In the Times, Roger Boyes argues that the UK government must increase defence spending and invest heavily in the Royal Marines amid heightened Gulf tensions: “There is nothing sentimental about bigging up the marines: they have to be part of the war of the future”.

In the Guardian, Rebecca Radcliffe inspects Max Rayne Hand in Hand school in Jerusalem, where students from Jewish and Arab backgrounds study a bilingual and multicultural curriculum.

In BBC News, Shereen El Feki argues that attitudes toward sex in the Middle East are liberalising: “opening up space on sexuality is important if we are to see happier, healthier societies in the years to come”.

In the Guardian, Tom Perkins meets one of over 1,400 Iraqi nationals who the Trump administration is attempting to deport. Most are Chaldean – Iraqi Catholics – living in metro Detroit, which has the world’s largest Chaldean population outside of Iraq.

In the Israeli media Yediot Ahronot, Haaretz and Israel Hayom report that the Daily Mail has published photos of Ehud Barak entering the house of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in New York in which he was allegedly attempting to cover his face with a scarf. The pictures were taken in January 2016, and according to reports, on the same day young girls were also observed entering Epstein’s house. Epstein is being charged with sex offences and profiteering. Barak said in response that he had partially covered his face because of the piercing cold and that he had never met with Epstein in the presence of women or young girls. The Israel Democratic Party said: “Barak disgustedly rejects the loathsome insinuations in this article. Neither the report nor the insinuations have any basis. They are a complete lie, aside from the fact that Barak admits it’s very cold in New York in January. The Daily Mail has published several false articles of this type in the past about Barak as well as other people. Other journalists who have looked into these reports haven’t found any evidence for these lies.”

The Times of Israel reports that Zeev Elkin accused Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of hating both Jews and Israel. Speaking to Army Radio, Elkin said: “We don’t decide for the British who to vote for, of course, but we have to state our position. I think Corbyn has proven himself, more than once or twice, to be a figure who quite hates the State of Israel and hates the Jewish people. People often try to hide behind this anti-Israel mantle and say, ‘We are not anti-Semitic, we’re only criticising the State of Israel and its policy’. And the example of what’s happening in the Labour Party under Corbyn shows the extent to which this cover is no true cover.” When asked by Reuters if Elkin’s comments reflected official government policy, the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.

Yediot Ahronot and Maariv report rumours of political mergers between centre-left parties. Labour Party leader Amir Peretz and Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz met last night in Tel Aviv. Polls have concluded that a merger would increase the number of seats they would win in the next elections. The prevailing assessment within both parties is that a formal merger is expected to be finalised in the next few days, possibly even by the weekend. Senior sources in the Labor Party and Meretz said last night that Ehud Barak has not been included in the talks that have been held between the two parties, and that the likelihood of a merger that would also include the Israel Democratic Party was diminishing. Senior Meretz sources said yesterday: “There’s a lot of opposition within the party to a merger with Barak mainly because of the embarrassing information that’s been published about his business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

Maariv reports that there are increasing calls in the Labour party for Israel Democratic Party leader Ehud Barak not to stand in the elections. Sources said: “Barak’s running is a serious stumbling block from our perspective. Not only has he not contributed to the block, he has weakened it…if Barak does not run, the Labour Party will gain strength and approach nine seats; this is a position from which they might even be able to gain further seats, Meretz would be out of the electoral threshold danger zone – and any pressure for a merger would be withdrawn.” Barak tweeted yesterday: “I thank the hundreds of Meretz and Labour activists who addressed us in the last days with requests to run together. The negotiations are continuing full steam ahead. I promise—we will do everything, absolutely everything necessary to bring about a complete merger of the democratic block. This is a commitment.”

Army Radio interviews United Torah Judaism MK Gafni, who said that cancelling the Gantz-Lapid PM rotation in Blue and White will not help them. We will not sit in a coalition in which Yair Lapid is a member, even if he does not have any role. If Gantz parts ways with him then we can talk.

Maariv and Haaretz reports that Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz said that he was vehemently opposed to conversion treatment. In a letter sent to Tel Aviv school principals he said he knows the treatment is inappropriate and dangerous, that it brings more suffering than alleviation and is even liable to endanger lives. Nonetheless, he added that it is the right of people with homosexual inclinations to ask for professional help and find an attentive ear in a respectful and loving manner. The Association for LGBTQ people responded that it was good that the minister had retracted his dangerous statements and understood it was not necessary to convert any person, but apologies are not enough and he must to publicise the ministry memo dealing with LGBTQ rights that has been in his office for a long time.

Anshel Pfeffer in Haaretz discusses the relationship between Russia and Turkey. “It may just be a coincidence, but there could hardly be a more fitting week for Russia to start shipping the new S-400 missile defence system to Turkey than the third anniversary of the failed military coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As rogue F-16 pilots bombed the parliament and presidential palace in Ankara, and Erdogan was nearly shot down on his flight back to Istanbul after evading capture at his coastal villa, Western governments held their breath, not daring to voice their hopes that the autocratic and anti-Western leader might be overthrown by a more convenient group of generals. When offered a vacuum left empty by Western leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin — as he has done so many times — jumped in first, expressing his solidarity with Erdogan… Erdogan’s uneasy relationship with Western leaders provided a golden opportunity for Putin to weaken NATO, and since the failed coup the two have grown closer.”