Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CBS host Margaret Brennan clashed on Face the Nation over whether U.S. intelligence has confirmed that Iran’s Supreme Leader ordered the development of a nuclear weapon. Brennan asked if there was specific intelligence showing such an order. Rubio dismissed the question as “irrelevant,” arguing that regardless of a formal order, Iran already has everything it needs to build a nuclear weapon. Rubio emphasized that Iran’s uranium enrichment levels, underground facilities, and missile programs clearly indicate nuclear weapon ambitions. “Why would you bury things in a mountain, 300 feet underground? Why do they have 60% enriched uranium? Only countries with nuclear weapons have that level, because it can quickly be enriched to 90%,” Rubio said. He rejected Brennan’s point about the necessity of a formal order, asserting he understood the issue better.
Brennan cited former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony that Iran had not ordered weaponization, asking if new intelligence had emerged. Rubio accused her of misrepresenting intelligence and pointed to recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports showing Iran’s noncompliance with nuclear obligations, including unexplained uranium traces at undeclared sites. Rubio warned that Iran’s nuclear progress combined with its regional terrorism and proxy activities make it a major threat. Following U.S. strikes on Iranian sites, Rubio cautioned Iran against closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, calling such a move “economic suicide” that would trigger international retaliation, including from China, which heavily depends on the strait for oil imports.
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