Diplomatic developments between Iran and the West at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly are the main focus of headlines this morning. The Times, Telegraph and Financial Times report that Foreign Secretary William Hague last night met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Zarif. Hague was subsequently quoted as cautiously optimistic over both an improvement in relations between the two countries and possible progress regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme. Zarif is also set to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry today while speculation grows over a possible meeting between US President Obama and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani at the UN gathering in New York. The Guardian online reports that Israeli leaders are highly sceptical over Iran’s apparent sudden appetite for diplomacy and have warned that action not words will indicate Tehran’s true intentions. In the Independent, David Usborne provides a preview of possible major developments at the UN gathering, including the possible adoption of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria’s chemical stockpile.

An opinion piece by former-Iranian President Mohammed Khatami in the Guardian urges the West to work with Rouhani or lose a unique opportunity for progress.  An editorial in the Independent argues that the West should engage with Iran in good faith or else risk a regional meltdown.

The ongoing stand-off between the military and terrorists at the Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi is also a major story. The Times says that both UK and Israeli special forces are on the scene while the Guardian says that Israeli officials have taken a leading role in advising the Kenyan government on resolving the siege while claiming that Israeli forces have actually joined the assault against the terrorists, a claim repeated by the Independent.

The Financial Times says that Israel will today present plans for multiple new economic projects which will aid Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The measures which will reportedly be presented by Israel’s Minister for International Relations Yuval Steinitz at an international donors’ conference in New York will include new water projects, a new fuel pipeline and a plan to upgrade Palestinian cellular networks.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph and the online edition of the Guardian report that in the wake of the killing of two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank over the weekend, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would permit Jewish residents to live in a Hebron building after their disputed purchase of the structure had been recently authorised in court.

The online editions of the Guardian, Financial Times and Times say that an Egyptian court has outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and that the movement faces organisational disarray.

The top story in Yediot Ahronot and Maariv is a serious decline in the health of Shas’ ailing spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. The 93-year-old is sedated and on a respirator in a Jerusalem hospital with close family members by his side. Rabbi Yosef is considered to be the ultimate authority within Shas and is also revered within the wider ultra-Orthodox community as a spiritual and rabbinic giant of his generation. Yediot Ahronot’s headline simply proclaims “Praying for Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef” while Maariv says that there is already a “war of succession” within Shas. Rabbi Yosef’s deteriorating health is also a major story in Israel Hayom.

Meanwhile, the possibility of a thaw in United States-Iran relations is also a major item ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York which gets underway today. Israel Hayom’s headline says “US and Iran court one another” while Haaretz says the foreign ministers of the two countries will meet today. Maariv and Yediot Ahronot speculate that US President Obama will meet with his Iranian counterpart during the UN gathering in New York. Writing in Maariv, Nadav Eyal asks whether Iran’s President Rowhani wants “to serve as a soft cover for the regime’s fist, or does he want to change the regime?”