The big picture: Iran — along with the EU, China and Russia — wants to keep the accord to remove the stigma surrounding its nuclear program and put the Islamic Republic on a path toward reintegration into the global economy. But large businesses, including energy, shipping and manufacturing firms, are already winding down operations in the country and will have to terminate their investments absent a waiver.
Rudy Giuliani said today that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un got “on his hands and knees and begged" for President Trump to reverse his decision to cancel their summit, the Wall Street Journal's Felicia Schwartz reports.
The backdrop: Giuliani was speaking at an investment conference in Israel. North Korea has watched statements from Trump's inner circle closely in the lead-up to the summit, reacting angrily to previous remarks from John Bolton and Mike Pence. As Axios' Jonathan Swan puts it: Trump’s legal mouthpiece continues to make potentially consequential and damaging remarks on foreign policy.
An investigation from Senate Republicans indicates the Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access to the U.S. financial system for a brief period after the 2015 nuclear deal despite telling Congress it had no plans to, reports the AP.
The big picture: The administration was attempting to strike a deal to ensure Iran received benefits promised to it while opponents of the deal argued the United States was too willing to give and could be used to fund Iran's extremism.
Israeli officials are actively lobbying the Trump administration to formally recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, according to reports from. Since Israel captured the Golan Heights plateau from Syria in the 1967 War, every subsequent attempt to negotiate peace between the two countries has revolved around the land's return.
Why it matters: While it is virtually unimaginable that Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights, formal U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty would cement that reality, slaying another sacred cow of Middle East diplomacy while changing little on the ground. It would also be another political win for Prime Minister Netanyahu, already celebrating President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal and the U.S. embassy's move to Jerusalem.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman, one of the few westerners to have met face-to-face with Kim Jong-un, plans to be in Singapore when the North Korean president meets with President Trump on June 12, the New York Post reports.
Between the lines: As a two-time Celebrity Apprentice contestant, Rodman has a relationship with both leaders. Still, the U.S. delegation is unlikely to want a controversial ex-basketball player having a high-profile diplomatic role. Rodman's rep told the Post his plans haven't been finalized, and "he’s just happy it’s happening. He’s just hoping for a great historic outcome."
Former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Ron Rockwell Hansen has been charged with attempted espionage and for acting as an unregistered foreign agent for China, according to the Justice Department.
Why it matters: China has become a global force in espionage, and this is the second case in recent months that a former U.S. official has been charged with espionage for China.
The State Department established a Health Incidents Response Task Force last month to look into "unexplained health incidents" affecting Americans in Cuba and China, according to a statement from Secretary Mike Pompeo.
The big picture: The task force found that 24 government officials and family members in Cuba showed symptoms "similar to those noted following concussion or minor traumatic brain injury." One person in China was found to have similar symptoms. Per Pompeo's statement, the "nature of the injuries suffered by the affected personnel, and whether a common cause exists for all cases, has not yet been established."
Vice President Mike Pence is hosting former Republican Sen. Richard Lugar and former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn in his West Wing office at 4:30pm this afternoon, where the three will discuss potential models for removing nuclear material and equipment from North Korea, two sources familiar with the meeting told Axios.
Why it matters: As part of their preparation for the Trump-Kim June 12th summit in Singapore, senior administration officials are studying potential next steps if the two strike a deal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Pence, who represented Trump at the Winter Olympics in South Korea last year, has been meeting with experts on the subject for months, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. He's interested in what Nunn and Lugar have to say because they helped reduce the nuclear threat during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Iran says it's taking steps to increase its capacity to enrich uranium within the parameters of the 2015 nuclear deal, reports the BBC. An official says Iran will be notifying the U.N. of its plans, and will assemble a "new generation of centrifuges" if the deal collapses.
Why it matters, from Axios' Dave Lawler: Iran is still negotiating with Germany, France and the U.K. to save the nuclear deal, but the sanctions enforcement plan laid out by the Trump administration would make it almost impossible to guarantee Iran the economic benefits it was promised. That leaves the Europeans and more moderate Iranian leaders essentially buying time. Meanwhile, Iran is warning that if the deal falls apart it will step up enrichment.
