Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was rebuked by the State Department for meeting with Iran’s nuclear-deal negotiator without its permission – presumably with intentions of resurrecting former President Barack Obama’s failed nuke deal.

The nuke-deal-supporting Democrat claimed that she was granted permission to dine with the Iranian minister, but the Trump administration indicates otherwise.

“As the U.S. builds up a military presence around Iran, Sen. Dianne Feinstein had a private dinner with @JZarif, Iran’s foreign minister, when he was in the United States a few weeks ago,” Politico’s Jake Sherman tweeted Thursday.

Contradicting stories …

Last week, Politico Playbook revealed it found Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s contact information pulled up on Feinstein’s phone on an elevator after she walked around the Capitol, but her office claims that she had the go-ahead for the covert arrangement.

“[The dinner was] arranged in consultation with the State Department,” the liberal senator’s team told Politico. “The office was in touch with State in advance of the meeting to let them know it was happening and to get an update on U.S.-Iran activity.”

But that’s not what the Trump State Department says.

“A State Department official told us that they did not ask Feinstein to go to the dinner with Zarif – a smooth-talking, American-educated Iranian diplomat who worked on the nuclear deal with John Kerry,” Politico reported.

The sensitive timing of such a meeting is being called into question.

“[T]he United States and Iran are in the middle of a high-wire diplomatic and military staring contest,” Politico’s Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and Daniel Lippman noted. “The United States has moved additional military resources into the region, and has indicated it has intelligence that the Iranians were readying to attack American interests in the region, [so] it’s a bit unusual that Feinstein – the former chair and vice chair of the Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate minority – is dining with the foreign minister of an adversary.”

Any attempts to rejuvenate the problematic Iran nuke deal are being met with great scrutiny and concern – and with good reason – especially with the Democrats’ record of covertly meeting with the jihadist nuclear-arms-producing enemy.

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday confirmed President Trump’s claim that John Kerry violated the Logan Act – [which] bars unauthorized persons from negotiating with foreign governments – saying he witnessed the former secretary of state meeting with Iranian leaders,” WND reported.

Attempts to breach national security by dealing with an Islamic terrorist regime are being called out as unacceptable and inexcusable.

“It’s true – I was there in Munich,” Pompeo told Fox and Friends Thursday about Kerry meeting with Iranian officials, according to WND. “It’s unusual, but more importantly, it’s wrong.”

Its not the Obama administration any longer ...

But Kerry’s spokesman, Matt Summers, disagrees, taking the terrorist-supporting nation at its word.

“[Trump's claim] is simply wrong – end of story," Summers contended in a statement earlier this month, according to CNN. “He's wrong about the facts, wrong about the law, and sadly he's been wrong about how to use diplomacy to keep America safe. Secretary Kerry helped negotiate a nuclear agreement that worked to solve an intractable problem. The world supported it then and supports it still. We'd hope the President would focus on solving foreign policy problems for America instead of attacking his predecessors for theater."

But Trump indicated that Kerry took part in clandestine talks with diplomats from the Islamic Republic so he could somehow resuscitate Obama’s nuclear deal that the Trump administration cancelled.

“What I would like to see with Iran – I would like to see them call me,” Trump insisted, according to WND. “John Kerry – he speaks to them a lot. John Kerry tells them not to call. That is a violation of the Logan Act, and frankly, he should be prosecuted on that.”

Back in May 2018, Trump withdrew from the Democrat’s disastrous “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” orchestrated by Iran with Obama’s and Kerry’s approval – a deal the president believes catered to all the interests of Iranian officials, showing America’s weakness and eagerness to appear politically correct and its willingness to make concessions in fear of its enemies.

Trump re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran, which – according to numerous Middle East experts – never stopped enriching uranium to continue its nuclear arms buildup – but the United Nations and Democrats insist that Iran is credible in its promise.

“[The agreement was] a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” Trump said at the time, according to WND. “It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.”

Iran recently announced that its nuclear program is up and running – verifying the suspicion of critics who never believed the terrorist-harboring Islamic nation ever intended on stopping its production of a nuclear arsenal.

Pompeo indicated that the days of America cowering and bowing down to its enemies – as it did under the Obama administration – are over.

“[E]very American should support America’s foreign policy,” Pompeo told Fox and Friends in the Thursday interview. “[The Obama administration] had their moment – they had their day. It’s time to get off the stage.”