This morning’s Independent i reports that Israeli security forces have continued to make additional arrests in the West Bank as the operation to locate three kidnapped Israeli youngsters continues. The Guardian includes a picture and caption of Israeli soldiers conducting a search, while the online edition of the Guardian includes a report which emphasises that the families of the three teenagers met yesterday for the first time.

The Guardian online also says that Israel’s Supreme Court yesterday upheld a travel ban on Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at Israel’s Dimona plant, who divulged Israeli nuclear secrets to the media in the 1980s and was subsequently apprehended and imprisoned. He has been subject to a travel ban since his release but had applied to visit the UK to attend a conference on protection for ‘whistle blowers.’

The Independent, Times, Financial Times and Independent i all report William Hague’s announcement yesterday that the UK will re-open an embassy in Tehran. Bilateral ties between the two countries were restored last year, with the British Embassy having been closed in 2011 when it was ransacked by a local mob. The Telegraph also reports the announcement and emphasises that UK business leaders are already prepared to re-enter the Iranian market. Writing in the Telegraph, Con Coughlin says that UK policy in the Middle East is “mired in confusion” and calls for greater clarity over the UK position on Iran.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express and online edition of the Telegraph both cover Prime Minister David Cameron’s warning yesterday that jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq pose the biggest security threat to the UK.

Speculation continues over whether the United States and Iran will cooperate over tackling the military gains being made by the Sunni Jihadist group ISIS in Iraq. The Guardian claims that the US was informed in advance by Tehran that the commander of Iran’s elite Quds force is visiting Baghdad. The Times says that Iran’s President Rouhani favours cooperation with the US to boost Tehran’s position in nuclear talks, but that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is opposed to such collaboration.

In the Guardian, Ian Black says that cooperation between the United States and Iran is likely to be at arm’s length. However, a Guardian editorial offers a “hopeful” possibility of a “grand bargain” between the US and Iran over policy in Iraq and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. An editorial in the Independent also suggests that the common enemy of ISIS could make nuclear agreement between the two countries more likely.

In the Israeli media, the operation to locate the three kidnapped youngsters firmly remains overwhelmingly the top item. Yediot Ahronot leads with the assessment of security officials that “we’ll reach the kidnappers soon.” Makor Rishon emphasises the assessment of IDF Head of Central Command, Nitzan Alon, who said that Hamas leaders are feeling the blow against them. In commentary on the operation, Yediot Ahronot’s Shimon Shiffer wonders, “Why was the decision to deal with the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas delayed until the three young Israelis were kidnapped?”

Meanwhile, Maariv and Israel Hayom lead with controversial comments made yesterday by Balad Knesset member Haneen Zoabi, who said that the kidnappers are not terrorists and that their actions were understandable given Israeli policies. Her comments caused outrage among many Israeli politicians while Israel Hayom calls her words a “disgrace.”

Israel Radio news this morning reports that Israeli security forces arrested a further 64 Hamas activists last night, while Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon is scheduled to meet the families of the missing teenagers today.