cnn's jim bitterman is live for us. wanted to hike in the mountains in the north and abducted on sunday and so quickly and brutally murdered. jim. >> reporter: absolutely. christine, that is one of the things that has outraged the french this morning. here is one of the headlines from the newspaper. decapitated because he was french. that is the line that president hollande used last night at the united nations. basically something that is unified that country politically in its outrage over the killing. herve gourdel, 55 years old, a mountain hiker and hiking guide. was just on vacation. he had gotten to algeria two days before taken prisoner on sunday. then he was almost immediately within 48 hours assassinated. decapitated. it has really horrified the country. i think a lot of people are offended at the idea that and alarmed at the idea it seems the reach of isis goes beyond just iraq and syria. this is algeria, which is thousands of miles away. >> jim, will this change, do you think, or influence the french position

for more, we have iran's stance and jim bitterman reports from paris. but here's max foster from london. >> reporter: the uk has provided military equipment in the fight against isis but so far hasn't committed to air strikes. even though a recent poll suggested the public would support that. david cameron is acting very cautiously. a year ago he tried to take military action in syria and parliament blocked it. he doesn't want to make the same mistake again. so the phrase you keep hearing on downing street is there won't be a knee-jerk reaction to isis, although air strikes do remain an option. >> reporter: iran's official position is that it is against any kind of military intervention in iraq. iran has long had a nonintervention policy and has usually used that policy to criticize past western military intervention suggesting the crisis in these countries only started after western military intervention. however, what makes the current crisis in iraq different is the fact that so-called islamic state poses a threat to iran. iran's population is mostly

and just before him, jim bitterman in paris.h. >>> before his speech, president obama talked with saudi king abdullah wednesday about his strategy to fight isis. and after earlier stops in jordan and iraq, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in saudi arabia today to meet with ministers of six persian gulf nations. saudi support is, of course, considered key in defeating isis. >> saudi arabia along with jordan and turkey could provide vital help, but in different ways. saudi arabia would lend regional legitimacy to a u.s.-led coalition. they have a modern air force that could take part in air strikes, as well as a counterterrorism program considered to be among the best in the world. and in recent months, the keng dom has arrested isis supporters and has severely penalized anyone who had been funding the terror group. >> jordan has logistics and intelligence to offer as well as connections with sunni tribes along the border of syria and iraq with funding and support. these tribes could help recapture territory currently und