The start of talks today in Geneva between Iranian officials and representatives of the P5+1 forum (United States, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany), is covered prominently this morning. The Financial Times, Guardian, Independent i and the online edition of the Telegraph report that Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif yesterday indicated that he would look to agree a ‘road map’ towards a resolution during this week’s talks. The Independent suggests that Iran might sign an “additional protocol” this week, which would hand greater oversight powers to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme. The Telegraph, Independent and Independent i cover comments made yesterday by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who warned that it would be an “historic mistake” for the international community to ease the pressure of sanctions on Iran without a complete halt to the country’s nuclear development.

The Independent i reports that in the same speech, Netanyahu reiterated his desire for peace with the Palestinians and repeated his call for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

The Times, Daily Mirror, Sun and the online edition of the Telegraph cover the findings of a Swiss toxicology team, which found traces of polonium on the belongings of former-PA President Yasser Arafat. Published in The Lancet, the results found that the belongings contained higher than normal polonium traces, which “might suggest radioactive poisoning” caused Arafat’s death in 2004.

The Guardian includes a feature on tough economic times in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, focusing on the impact of Egypt’s destruction of smuggling tunnels beneath the Egypt-Gaza border and the increasingly frequent closure of Egypt’s Rafah border crossing.

Also in the Guardian, an opinion piece by Wadah Khanfar reviews the fluctuating changes in power between the different axes and alliances in the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Independent reports that al-Qaeda affiliated groups are looking to spread their influence beyond Syria and across the region. In Syria itself, the Times online says that two thousand people have escaped starvation after having been granted safe passage from a conflict zone near Damascus. The Independent i and the online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph report that four of the seven workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross who were kidnapped in northern Syria earlier this week were yesterday released unharmed.

In the Israeli media, the headline story in Maariv claims that peace talks between Israel and the PA are on the “verge of explosion.” Apparently, the main bone of contention is over Israel’s insistence that it maintain a military presence in the Jordan Valley in the event of a peace deal. The report claims that this dispute has stymied any real progress on other core issues such as Jerusalem, settlements and refugees.

Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon focus on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech yesterday in the Knesset in which he said that Iran must not be handed concessions before it agrees to halt its nuclear development. Haaretz highlights American assurances that any upcoming agreement reached with Iran will not ruin the sanctions framework.

Meanwhile, controversy over planned redundancies at pharmaceutical giant Teva is a major story in Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom. Labour leader Shelly Yachimovich addressed the issue in her Knesset speech yesterday, pointing out that Teva has received significant tax breaks over the past few years. Teva’s CEO said that media reports of eight hundred job losses are baseless. According to Israel Radio news, he met last night with Finance Minister Yair Lapid who expressed great discomfort at the planned lay-offs.