“There’s absolutely nothing unusual about it. The conversation I think he really ought to be worried about is Paul Manafort with Mueller.”

— Former Secretary of State John Kerry, on Real Time with Bill Maher, responding to President Trump’s criticism of his conversations with Iranian diplomats.

“The Trump administration said it would restore sanctions on Iran that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear accord at midnight on Monday, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran while worsening a divide with Europe,” the New York Times reports.

“The new sanctions are a consequence of President Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from the nuclear deal with world powers…. European officials have said that the Iran nuclear agreement is crucial to their national security. International inspectors have concluded that Iran is complying with the accord.”

President Trump said he is willing to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani anytime, saying that he believes it is always better to meet with adversaries, the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet. Anytime they want.”

Iran’s Quds force chief Qassem Soleimani warned President Trump against war, saying it would “destroy all that you possess”, Reuters reports.

Said Soleimani: “You know that this war will destroy all that you possess. You will start this war but we will be the ones to impose its end. Therefore you have to be careful about insulting the Iranian people and the president of our Republic.”

“President Trump’s vituperative tweet against Iran late on Sunday showed his determination to use the same approach that he took to engineer a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea. But Mr. Trump’s top advisers are far more united in their hostility to engaging with Iran, and Iran is far less likely to bend to such pressure,” the New York Times reports.

“It only deepened questions about the long-term direction of Mr. Trump’s Iran policy. While the White House on Monday did not rule out direct talks between the president and Iran’s leaders over its nuclear program, Mr. Trump’s hawkish national security team has put the focus more on toppling the Iranian government than striking a new deal with it.”

President Trump threatened Iran late Sunday, warning of severe “consequences,” as rhetoric between the two countries’ presidents escalated dramatically, the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Trump, in an all-caps message on Twitter addressed to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, wrote that the country would face ‘CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED’ if he continued to threaten the United States.”

Washington Post: “The escalation of bellicose rhetoric comes just three weeks before the first round of banking sanctions suspended under the nuclear deal is reimposed. Bigger sanctions, which will take effect in November, are aimed at cutting off virtually all of Iran’s oil market.”

“Iranian hackers have laid the groundwork to carry out extensive cyberattacks on U.S. and European infrastructure and private companies, and the U.S. is warning allies, hardening its defenses and weighing a counterattack,” NBC News reports.

“Despite Iran having pre-positioned cyber weapons to carry out attacks, there is no suggestion an offensive operation is imminent.”

“The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access — albeit briefly — to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping sanctions kept in place after the 2015 nuclear deal, despite repeatedly telling Congress and the public it had no plans to do so,” the AP reports.

“An investigation by Senate Republicans released Wednesday sheds light on the delicate balance the Obama administration sought to strike after the deal, as it worked to ensure Iran received its promised benefits without playing into the hands of the deal’s opponents.”

Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chastised President Trump over his decision to pull America out of the 2015 nuclear deal, while lawmakers lit a paper U.S. flag on fire inside parliament, shouting, “Death to America!,” the AP reports.

Khamenei described Trump’s speech announcing his decision as having “over 10 lies,” without elaborating on them.

Former President Barack Obama released a statement in reaction to President Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran deal, calling it “misguided” and a “serious mistake,” the Daily Beast reports.

Obama added that the U.S. could be left with a tough choice “between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East.”

“President Trump is expected to announce on Tuesday that he is withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, European diplomats said after concluding that they had failed to convince him that reneging on America’s commitment to the pact could cast the West into new confrontation with Tehran,” the New York Times reports.

“If the diplomats are correct, the announcement will be the most consequential national security decision of Mr. Trump’s 15 months in office — though it could be eclipsed in coming weeks by his direct negotiation with North Korea’s leader over surrendering its nuclear arsenal.”

Aides to President Trump “hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a ‘dirty ops’ campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal,” The Observer reports.

“People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to ‘get dirt’ on Ben Rhodes, who had been one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama, as part of an elaborate attempt to discredit the deal.”

President Trump “has all but decided to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord by May 12 but exactly how he will do so remains unclear,” Reuters reports.