'It's irrelevant, it doesn't matter': Rubio on whether Iran was actually making nuclear bomb

In an admission that puts the legitimacy of US airstrikes in Iran in question, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that “it’s irrelevant” and “it doesn’t matter” whether Iran was actually developing a nuclear weapon under orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In an interview with CBS News’ Margaret Brennan, Rubio repeatedly declined to answer whether the US intelligence agencies had confirmed that Iran was actually making nuclear weapons under orders from Khamenei.

The United States on Saturday conducted airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. The Donald Trump administration has made contradictory statements about the Iranian nuclear programme — the destruction of the programme was the basis of the US strikes and the Israeli war on Iran.

Instead of addressing the question about the US intelligence assessment of the Iranian nuclear programme, Rubio said that Iran had enriched uranium up to 60 per cent and such high level of enrichment suggested it was on the path of making a nuclear weapon.

‘That’s irrelevant question’: Rubio on whether Iran was actually making nukes

Rubio told Brennan that “it’s an irrelevant question” when she asked him whether the US intelligence agencies confirmed that Iran was actually making nuclear weapons under orders from Khamenei.

When Brennan pressed as the Iranian development of a nuclear weapon formed the basis of US strikes, Rubio said that “it doesn’t matter if the order was given” by Khamenei to make a nuclear weapon.

“They have everything they need to build nuclear weapons. Why would you bury things in a mountain 300 feet under the ground? Why do they have 60 per cent enriched uranium? You don’t need 60 per cent enriched uranium. The only countries in the world that have uranium at 60 per cent are countries that have nuclear weapons,” said Rubio.

When Brennan asked about the Trump administration’s assessment made public in the March that said that Iran was not making a nuclear weapon at the time, Rubio claimed she was making an “inaccurate representation” of the assessment. He then told her to forget about the intelligence.

“That’s not how intelligence is read. That’s not how intelligence is used. Here’s what the whole world knows. Forget about intelligence, what the IAEA knows. They are enriching uranium well beyond anything you need for a for a civil nuclear program. So why would you enrich uranium at 60 per cent if you don’t intend to one day use it to take it to 90 and build a weapon?” said Rubio.

When Brennan persisted with the questioning, Rubio gave the clearest indication that there was no intelligence confirmation about Iran actually making a nuclear weapon under orders from Khamenei.

“I was simply asking if we had intelligence that there was an order to weaponize, because you have said weaponization ambitions, which implies they weren’t doing it,” said Brennan.

Rubio replied, “Well, we have intelligence that they have everything they need to build a nuclear weapon.”

Flip-flops on Iran’s nuclear programme

The Trump administration has given contradictory information about the assessment of the Iranian nuclear programme.

In March, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard said that Iran was not currently developing a nuclear weapon under orders from Khamenei.

Trump on June 17 contradicted her and said, “I don’t care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.”

The White House then said that Iran could develop a nuclear weapon within two weeks after Khamenei’s go-ahead, suggesting the go-ahead had not yet come. The same day, Trump, however, said that Gabbard’s statement about Iran not actually making a nuclear weapon was “wrong” .