BBC News and the Independent report that Prime Minister Theresa May will chair the government’s emergency committee COBR on Monday after a UK-flagged tanker was seized by Iran. May is expected to receive updates from ministers and officials and discuss maintaining the security of shipping in the area. It comes amid reports ministers are considering freezing Iranian assets. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to update MPs later on further measures the government will take. On Saturday, Hunt stated that after a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Hunt said Iran viewed this as a “tit-for-tat situation” following the detention of an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar, though he insisted that “nothing could be further from the truth”. This was confirmed by Ali Larijani, speaker of Iran’s parliament who stated that the Revolutionary Guard seized the oil tanker as a direct response to the “theft” of Grace 1. On Sunday, the Foreign Office confirmed Hunt spoke with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas who have both condemned Iran’s actions. The Independent reports that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has blamed US President Donald Trump for the Iran tanker crisis. He tweeted: “Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal has fuelled confrontation. Its negotiated reinstatement is essential to defuse threat of war in the Gulf”.

Reuters reports that the UK denounced Iran’s seizure of the UK-flagged tanker as a “hostile act” and rejected Tehran’s explanation that it seized the vessel because it had been involved in an accident. Iran’s ambassador to London warned the UK against escalating tensions. Hamid Baeidinejad said in a tweet: “This is quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region. Iran however is firm and ready for different scenarios.”  Reuters reports the UK told the United Nations Security Council that the UK-flagged tanker was approached by Iranian forces when it was in Omani territorial waters and the action “constitutes illegal interference.” “The ship was exercising the lawful right of transit passage in an international strait as provided for under international law,” Britain’s UN mission wrote to the Security Council. “International law requires that the right of transit passage shall not be impeded, and therefore the Iranian action constitutes illegal interference.” Reuters reports that a UK warship radioed an Iranian patrol boat to warn against interfering with the UK-flagged tanker: “Please confirm that you are not intending to violate international law by unlawfully attempting to board,” Royal Navy frigate Montrose warned the Iranian boat.

The Guardian reports that the UK is under pressure to join US-led plans for an international maritime protection force in the Gulf as signs grow that Iran is preparing for a long standoff over the UK-flagged tanker it has detained. As Tehran signalled it would refuse to release the Steno Impero until the UK released an Iranian-flagged ship seized off the coast of Gibraltar, the UK government faced accusations it had failed to sufficiently guard its shipping in the Gulf. BBC News reports that Chancellor Philip Hammond has insisted that the UK government did not take its “eye off the ball” over the seizure of the UK-flagged tanker while the Guardian reports that defence minister Tobias Ellwood has rejected the charge that the UK-flagged tanker could have been better protected, though he admitted that cuts had left the Royal Navy too small to manage Britain’s interests around the globe. The Times reports that the UK rejected a US offer to protect British shipping in the Gulf days before the tanker was seized. Iain Duncan Smith attacked Theresa May, saying he had been told that Washington had offered US assets to protect British merchant vessels but the proposal had been vetoed by Downing Street. It had been a “major failure”, he said, and left “urgent questions”.

Reuters reports that oil prices rose on Monday on concerns that Iran’s seizure of a British tanker last week may lead to supply disruptions in the Middle East Gulf, although gains were capped as Libya resumed output at its largest oil field. “Falling global demand and rising U.S. stockpiles have helped turn oil charts very bearish, but that may not last as tensions remain high in the Persian Gulf,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York, said in a note.

The Financial Times reports that the global shipping industry is grappling with how best to police the Strait of Hormuz as it braces for the threat of further disruptions to tankers. Shipping operators’ concerns have been heightened after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker on Friday. A third of the world’s seaborne oil – almost 17m barrels a day – passes through the strait, which narrows to just 21 miles and has long been a strategic chokepoint. Basil Karatzas, of shipping finance advisory firm Karatzas Marine Advisors, said ship owners or charterers hiring armed guards could not alone protect vessels from state actors.  “We need an Interpol for the seas,” said Mr Karatzas. “There is an urgent need for international-scale security, for the Strait of Hormuz and other strategic shipping chokepoints worldwide. How do you protect merchant vessels from a sovereign state?”

Reuters reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stated that Japan wants to make every effort to reduce tension between the US and Iran before responding to a US request to send its navy to guard strategic waters off Iran. Japanese media have said a US proposal to boost surveillance of Middle East oil shipping lanes off Iran and Yemen, where the US says Iran and its proxies have carried out tanker attacks, could be on the agenda during this week’s visit by US national security adviser John Bolton.

The Times reports that Gibraltar updated its sanctions enforcement regulations 36 hours before Royal Marines impounded an Iranian tanker when it stopped for supplies in the territory. The seizure of Grace 1, which prompted Iran to threaten reciprocal actions, is at the heart of the crisis unfolding the Gulf. The legal changes suggest both that the operation was planned and that the authorities feared it would need a clearer legal basis. Gibraltar incorporated Sanctions Regulations 2019 into local law on 3 July, giving authorities the right to “designate and detain” ships if the chief minister suspects they are being used to breach EU sanctions.

Reuters reports that Panama’s maritime authority has stated that it had begun the process of withdrawing the registration of an oil tanker towed to Iran after it disappeared from ship tracking maps in the Strait of Hormuz. Panama began the flag withdrawal process on Friday after an investigation determined the tanker had “deliberately violated international regulations” by not reporting any unusual situation. “We roundly condemn the use of Panamanian flagged ships for illicit activities,” the authority said in a statement.

Reuters reports that Israeli forces have begun demolishing buildings near a military barrier on the outskirts of Jerusalem, in the face of Palestinian protests and international criticism. Bulldozers accompanied by hundreds of Israeli soldiers and police moved in to Sur Baher, a Palestinian village on the edge of East Jerusalem in an area that Israel captured and occupied in the 1967 Middle East War. Palestinians fear that the razing of homes and buildings near the fence will set a precedent for other towns along the route of the barrier.

BBC News and the Guardian report that Benjamin Netanyahu has become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, surpassing the record set by David Ben Gurion. Netanyahu won his first election in 1996, becoming Israel’s youngest-ever prime minister at the age of 46. He is also the first leader born after the creation of the state in 1948.

The Independent and Financial Times report that Iran has captured 17 “spies” it claims were working for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and some have been sentenced to death. State television quoted the Iranian Intelligence Ministry as saying it had broken up a “CIA spying ring” and captured 17 suspects.  A ministry official said some of those arrested had been sentenced to death, the country’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.

BBC News reports that Twitter has suspended several Iranian news accounts over alleged harassment of people who follow the Baha’i faith. Young Journalists Club, run by state broadcaster IRIB, state-run IRNA, and Mehr were among the Farsi-language accounts suspended on Saturday. The affected agencies speculated that the suspensions were linked to their coverage of tensions in the region. In particular, they believed they were being penalised for their reporting of Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf on Friday.

The Independent reports that the UK government has invited Saudi Arabian representatives to the world’s largest arms fair, despite judges ruling the sale of weapons used in Yemen unlawful. Graham Stuart, the minister for trade, confirmed a Saudi delegation would be invited to the controversial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) event following a parliamentary question. Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse called the invite “extremely irresponsible”. “Their dismal record on human rights and the rule of law should have disqualified them as an arms trading partner long ago”.

The Times reports that concerns are growing over the fate of French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah after her imprisonment last month. Efforts led by President Macron have so far failed to elicit any explanation of the arrest or provide a French consular visit. She was secretly arrested while working in Tehran last month and was jailed in the city’s notorious Evin prison.

In BBC News, Jonathan Marcus argues that the Iran tanker crisis constitutes a ‘diplomatic test’ for the incoming UK prime minister: “The likely next prime minister – Boris Johnson – prides himself on his close ties with Mr Trump. But will this be an advantage given Washington’s very different strategic goals? He has also done much to frustrate Britain’s EU allies. He will now have a very difficult course to steer”.

The Financial Times argues that the Iran tanker crisis is not solely a UK problem: “Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz has global implications. If the situation escalates, it could lead to military clashes that suck in not just Iran and the UK – but also the US and Iran’s regional rivals”.

In the Guardian, Patrick Wintour examines UK diplomatic options following the Iran tanker crisis: “The major task for the new prime minister will be to sit down with Trump and urge him to clarify what he is trying to achieve in Iran: constraints on its nuclear ambitions or its regional submission. Trump needs a more credible explanation of what success looks like”.

The Guardian argues that following the Iran tanker crisis, the immediate issue is protecting vessels and most crucial issue is where the UK positions itself: “What happens in the strait of Hormuz offers only a taste of the challenges to come for a weakened and lonely vessel buffeted by an erratic US administration and its own decision to exit the EU”.

In the Times, Richard Spencer argues that the Iran tanker crisis ‘revealed all too publicly a weakness caused by years of cuts to military expenditure’: “The result is that Britain is neither a full partner of the US nor a full player in Europe’s very different approach to international security at present. The government, such as it is, may believe that it can forge its own path, as befits the “great nation” it tells us we are. That was a theoretically plausible stance — until the Iranians decided to board a British-flagged vessel and the Royal Navy was reduced to standing by helplessly and begging them to stop, to no avail”.

In the Guardian, Sanam Vakil argues that the Iran tanker crisis is inextricably linked to the US maximum pressure campaign on Iran: “Rather than conflating the ships and the nuclear crisis, a direct UK-Iran bilateral negotiation on the tankers could provide both sides with a face-saving outcome. It could in turn allow the new British prime minister to take a bigger role in JCPOA mediation efforts. The UK could position itself as a bridge between the EU and US, and in the process boost its post-Brexit relevance”.

In the Independent, Patrick Cockburn argues that the Iran tanker crisis demonstrates that Brexit leaves the UK with “no choice but to do US bidding – and suffer the consequences”.

In the Independent, Borzou Daragahi examines “how Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei turned his position into one ‘Persian monarchs would have envied.”

In the Guardian, Layla Moran MP argues that ‘we must talk about Palestine without being anti-Semitic’: “Never has it been more critical to talk about the political and economic state of Palestine. The two-state solution is at best in stasis, at worst it is teetering on the brink of a precipice. It needs a lifeline. And we can make a difference if our government lives up to the moral and historical responsibilities that Britain has been renowned for”.

All the Israel media report that Ayelet Shaked is to run as leader of the New Right party. Sima Kadmon in Yediot Ahronot writes that “It was impossible not to observe and admire Bennett for his transformation from someone who had been perceived as childish, impetuous and how to put it—did not always display responsibility.  In the months that elapsed since the New Right received a second chance, Bennett matured. He admitted to mistakes, changed strategy, initiated reforms and worked like a maniac… Shaked should be grateful for Bennett’s patience and his willingness to concede first place to her. Even if this was the politically expedient and electorally advantageous thing to do, it absolutely cannot be taken for granted.” Kadmon concludes that: “Shaked did not just join the New Right to head it and to bite her fingernails waiting to see if the party crosses the electoral threshold. She intends to head a technical bloc that includes all the right-wing parties…It will be interesting to know what they thought yesterday on Balfour Street. Although this option was on the table the entire time, it appears that their nightmare is coming true. The person [male] or person [female] who did not want her in the Likud, could now find her as the leader of a major party that will have a dramatic impact on the next government.”

Ben Caspit in Maariv also discusses the affect on Prime Minister Netanyahu: “Now he is getting this power couple again, but turbo-charged. It is for good reason that [Netanyahu] is opposed to placing Shaked in the top slot [of the proposed unified right wing list]. He too knows how to read the polls. Shaked strips the Likud of 2-3 seats and brings him below Benny Gantz. No scriptwriter in Hollywood or in Bollywood could have dreamed up such a scenario.” Caspit adds that: “This is both good and bad news for Netanyahu. Good news, because the right wing will not lose votes. Bad news, because this right wing will include that pair of pests, armed with a sizeable thirst for revenge and free of past commitments. He will not be able to rely, for example, on their vote on issues of immunity and an override clause (in its administrative and semi-judicial forms).”

Discussing the state of play on the centre left, Chemi Shalev in Haaretz writes that: “As the clock nears midnight, the center-left is on the brink of implosion. The intensity of its aversion to continued Netanyahu rule is eclipsed only by the inability of its leaders to stand one another or work together. Barring a last minute Hail Mary or deus ex-machina, election that seemed eminently winnable for Netanyahu’s opponents could turn out to be their final Waterloo. Peretz may have thought that his union with Levi-Abekasis was a stroke of genius that would reshuffle Israeli politics and shift moderate right-wing voters, especially North Africans in development towns, to a recalibrated Labour focused on social equality and led by two politicians of Moroccan origins. What he failed to take into account was that his last-minute realignment of Labour could alienate the party’s own electoral base, sending many of its members packing to seek alternatives and possibly precipitate the collapse of Labour itself.” He concludes that s things stand now, history will record that when faced with what its leaders describe as a do-or-die vote on Israel’s future, the center-left succumbed to vanity, ego, purism, dogmatism and political ploys gone wrong, such as the Peretz-Levi-Abekasis merger. History won’t forgive them, especially since, as a direct result of their own reckless shortsightedness, it will be written by Netanyahu and his adoring minions.”

Commentary in the weekend papers also discussed the merger. Nahum Barnea in Yediot Ahronot writes that Peretz’s decision was based on the: “Working assumption that there is a large pool of voters in Israel that can be defined as ‘soft right’… The pursuit of the soft right begins with dreams about 20 seats, if not more, but usually ends in disappointment. Everyone courts those voters, but it is the Likud that gets their votes.” Barnea adds: “Looking beyond the results of the upcoming elections, the question is whether the Labour Party, a former governing party that has become a niche party, will survive. Over time, the only parties that survive on the fringes are either ideological or sector-based parties. The Labour Party is neither the one nor the other.” In Maariv Ben Caspit writes that Peretz “took a huge gamble with far-reaching ramifications. It will end with either a citation or a resignation. If Peretz’s reading of the situation is wrong, the party that established the State of Israel will vanish from the political map on his watch.”

Maariv reports that the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, called Michal Peretz, the wife of Jewish Home Chairman Rafi Peretz and asked her to tell her husband that he must not concede the leadership of a merger of the right-wing parties to Shaked. Sources close to Rabbi Peretz confirmed that the two wives did talk about incorporating Shaked in the Union of Right-Wing Parties, but Netanyahu’s spokespersons chose to deny this. A statement they issued said: “Sara Netanyahu and Minister Peretz’s wife met briefly and by chance at a wedding attended by many other people. They hugged quickly, while surrounded by a lot of people, and set up to meet later. The alleged details about a conversation that ostensibly took place are a fiction.” Prime Minister Netanyahu announced yesterday that for now, he was not intervening in matters relating to the parties to the right of the Likud. In a film that he posted, Netanyahu said: “people from the right tell me: ‘you have to intervene in what is happening in the right wing, otherwise, five to six seats will be thrown into the garbage again and we’ll have to hold elections again. You have to intervene.’ I am saying—I am not intervening for now, and if necessary, I will.”

In other news Haaretz reports that Israeli soldiers began demolishing buildings in an East Jerusalem neighbourhood under the control of the Palestinian Authority, following a legal challenge to the government order to evacuate apartments deemed too close to the West Bank separation barrier, which runs through the city. In June, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in favour of the demolition of 13 large buildings in the Wadi Hummus neighbourhood, located on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It is on the edge of the Palestinian village of Sur Baher, in southeast Jerusalem. Unlike the rest of the village, this neighbourhood lies beyond the city’s municipal boundaries, in the West Bank. Most of the area it occupies is designated as part of Area A – i.e., under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The West Bank separation barrier was intended to pass through Sur Baher, but its route was changed due to a residents’ campaign. Thus, Wadi Hummus ended up on the Israeli side of the barrier, although legally it part of the West Bank and under PA authority. The Defence Ministry ordered the demolition of the apartments, citing concerns over their proximity to the separation fence, which it said made them a security threat.

Haaretz reports that Israeli observers believe that Iran is working to transfer weaponry by sea to avoid assaults that have targeted arms shipments to Syria and to Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to the assessments, attacks designed to prevent Iran from entrenching itself in Syria and transferring equipment to Lebanon have led the Iranians to prefer shipping a portion of the weaponry by sea.

The Times of Israel reports that Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri was in Tehran on Sunday, and said that Hamas is “on the same path as the Islamic Republic — the path of battling the Zionist entity and the arrogant ones.” Arouri made the comment during a meeting with Kamal Kharazi, the head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations.