An Iranian national pleaded guilty on Friday to engaging in a plot to export sensitive technology to Iran in violation of multiple sanctions, according to the Justice Department. 
Top U.S. diplomats are pressuring the German government to reverse its recent decision to decline participation in a U.S.-led coalition in the Persian Gulf aimed at combating Iran's repeated attempts to hijack international oil tankers, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon. 
A last-minute diplomatic initiative by Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) aimed at easing pressure on Iran was poorly coordinated and ultimately ended in failure, according to multiple administration and congressional sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon and provided previously unknown details about the senator's rogue diplomacy with Tehran. 
The greatest danger is that the Israeli-Iranian conflict spills into Lebanon, triggering another war between Israel and Hezbollah. 
The Trump administration on Wednesday issued sanctions against Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, formally labeling him a terrorist enabler and blacklisting all of his property, assets, and investments, according to senior administration officials. 
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is accusing multiple senior Trump administration officials in both the Treasury and State Departments of actively working behind President Donald Trump's back to save the Iran nuclear deal and continue providing Tehran with waivers permitting the regime to conduct sensitive nuclear work at a military site that houses Iran's nuclear weapons program. When it comes to foreign policy, Rand Paul is a charlatan with misguided, ill-informed, and even dangerous views—views that would undermine, if not completely derail, the Trump administration's strategy toward Iran. 
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) discussed recent tensions with Iran Tuesday during a radio appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show. Hewitt asked Cotton for his thoughts on President Donald Trump's recent comments on Iran, in which he argued that the regime was enduring great economic and domestic difficulties. 
President Donald Trump on Monday categorically denied reports that Iran had captured 17 supposed CIA agents whom the Islamic Republic accused of spying on the country. 
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had captured a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf after Britain seized an Iranian vessel this month, ratcheting up tension along a vital international oil shipping route. 