The U.S. didn’t need proof Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had given an “order to weaponize” the country’s uranium stock ahead of airstrikes against the country, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan Sunday. The Trump administration only needed to know Iran has “everything they need for a nuclear weapon.”
“It doesn’t matter [if] the order was given,” Rubio insisted. “They have everything they need to build nuclear weapons. Why would you bury … things in a mountain, 300 feet under the ground? Why would you bury … why do they have 60% enriched uranium? You don’t need 60% enriched uranium. The only countries in the world that have uranium at 60% are countries that have nuclear weapons, because it can quickly make it 90.”
The numbers in question are important; a purity of 90% is required for weapons-grade uranium. Iran announced the country’s intention to enrich uranium to 60% purity in April 2021. The country previously produced uranium enriched to 19.5%.
Rubio also questioned why Iran has a stock of 8,000 short range missiles and “two to 3,000” mid-range missiles. “They have everything they need for a nuclear weapon. They have the delivery mechanisms, they have the enrichment capability, they have the highly enriched uranium that is stored,” he continued.
“That’s all we need to see,” Rubio added.
Later in the debate, Rubio also insisted Iran does not have a right to “enrich [uranium] at 60%, hide it under a mountain and develop long range and short range and mid-range missiles and sponsor terrorist proxies all over the world.”
He further accused the country of intentionally delaying peace negotiations and disputed claims Iran moved most of its nuclear material from Fordo ahead of the attack. “I mean, the minute a truck starts driving somewhere, the Israelis have seen it, and they’ve targeted it and taken it out. So our assessment is, we have to assume that that’s a lot of 60% enriched uranium buried deep under the ground there in Isfahan,” Rubio said. Isfahan is a city in central Iran.
Brennan questioned Rubio’s insistence that the administration is not attempting a regime change, a point he repeatedly denied. “You’ve said this is not about regime change, but you are describing a regime that you have said for decades, I mean, for upwards of 40 years, has chanted Death to America, has done all the things you just described. Isn’t a diplomatic deal with them a lifeline?” she asked. “Aren’t you offering to negotiate with the same people you’re saying did all these things? So therefore, are you actually looking for regime change?”
A question about a regime change “misses the point” Rubio fired back. “I don’t like that they chant those things. But one thing is that they chant those things. Another thing is that they chant those things, and they have terror proxies all over the world, and they have long range missiles that can reach the United States one day and they have the potential to be one step away from a nuclear weapon —”
” — One day,” Brennan interjected.
“Yeah, well one day could be tomorrow, could be a week from now, could be a month from now. You know, all it takes is the flip of a switch. By the way, they’re not going to broadcast that to the world. By the time we figure out that they’re doing it, you have all the pieces in place,” Rubio retorted.
Watch the full interview with Marco Rubio in the video above.
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