"Irrelevant", Says Marco Rubio On Whether Iran Was Building Nuclear Weapon
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended President Donald Trump's decision to target Iran's three nuclear facilities despite intelligence and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s assessment that Tehran was in no position to have weapons.
"It doesn't matter," he said, adding Tehran had all the elements needed to build a nuclear weapon.
In an interview with host Margaret Brennan on the CBS' "Face The Nation", Mr Rubio dismissed if the US knew whether Iran's Supreme Leader formally ordered the weaponisation of uranium, questioning why Tehran was hiding its nuclear sites deep inside mountains if they were truly for peaceful energy. "It's irrelevant," he answered.
Mr Rubio asked, "Why do you bury nuclear things in a mountain, 300 feet under the ground? Why do they have 60 per cent enriched uranium?
MUST WATCH: @SecRubio schools Margaret Brennan on the Iranian regime's nuclear program.
"Why do they have 60% enriched uranium? ... The only countries in the world that have uranium at 60% are countries that have nuclear weapons because they can quickly make it 90%!" pic.twitter.com/XO8ol5jBIn
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 22, 2025
He stated that Iran might have been secretly planning to build a nuclear bomb because the country had enriched 60 per cent uranium, which can easily be increased to 90 per cent. Mr Rubio added: "You don't need 60 per cent uranium for peaceful energy."
Mr Rubio further asked, "Why does Iran have a space program? Are they going to the moon?" He added, "No, they're trying to build an ICBM so they can one day put a warhead on it."
He added if Iran weren't planning to carry nuclear warheads, then why were they developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM)? Why do they possess 8,000 short-range missiles and 2,000 to 3,000 mid-range missiles, he asked.
When pressed again over intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, Mr Rubio said: "Well, we have intelligence that they had everything they need to build a nuclear weapon."
"And that's more than enough," he added.
On Sunday, the US dropped 14,000-kg bunker-buster bombs on Iran's key nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The situation continued to be volatile on Monday when Israel launched a fresh round of missiles towards Tehran.
A thick plume of smoke was seen emanating from a busy neighbourhood after Israel launched major strikes on security institutions, including facilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and police intelligence units, in Tehran.
An Israeli military spokesman said they were targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard command centres, Al Jazeera reported.
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