“The intelligence that caused the White House to escalate its warnings about a threat from Iran came from photographs of missiles on small boats in the Persian Gulf that were put on board by Iranian paramilitary forces,” the New York Times reports.

“Overhead imagery showed fully assembled missiles, stoking fears that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps would fire them at United States naval ships. Additional pieces of intelligence picked up threats against commercial shipping and potential attacks by Arab militias with Iran ties on American troops in Iraq.”

President Trump dismissed last night’s New York Times story on the administration’s internal debate over sending 120,000 troops to the Middle East to counter Iran as “fake news,” Politico reports.

But, he added: “Would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we won’t have to plan for that. If we did that we would send a hell of a lot more troops than that.”

“At a meeting of President Trump’s top national security aides last Thursday, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated military plan that envisions sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons,” the New York Times reports.

“The revisions were ordered by hard-liners led by John Bolton, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser. It does not call for a land invasion of Iran, which would require vastly more troops.”

“The development reflects the influence of Mr. Bolton, one of the administration’s most virulent Iran hawks, whose push for confrontation with Tehran was ignored more than a decade ago by President George W. Bush.”

“The U.S. is deploying a carrier strike group and a number of bombers to the Middle East to serve as a deterrent to Iran based on new intelligence that suggests allied interests and American forces could be imperiled,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

In a closed-door meeting with Iranian-American community leaders last Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration is “not going to do a military exercise inside Iran” to expedite a regime change, Axios reports.

“Pompeo also sought to distance the Trump administration from a controversial Iranian resistance group that has welcomed John Bolton and Rudy Giuliani as speakers in a private capacity.”

President Trump designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a “foreign terrorist organization” as part of an effort to increase international pressure on the country, the AP reports.

“It’s an unprecedented move because the U.S. has never before used the designation for an entire foreign government entity.”

Washington Post: “The designation of the Revolutionary Guards Corps marks the first time Washington has branded a foreign military a terrorist group. While the designation will have little immediate impact, it runs counter to warnings from U.S. military and intelligence officials that other nations could use the designation as a precedent against U.S. action abroad.”

“The Trump White House has accelerated a secret American program to sabotage Iran’s missiles and rockets, according to current and former administration officials, who described it as part of an expanding campaign by the United States to undercut Tehran’s military and isolate its economy,” the New York Times reports.

“Officials said it was impossible to measure precisely the success of the classified program, which has never been publicly acknowledged. But in the past month alone, two Iranian attempts to launch satellites have failed within minutes.”

“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.”