In a stunning admission on national TV, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it doesn’t matter whether U.S. intelligence actually showed Iran was trying to build a nuclear bomb before the United States launched massive airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites Saturday night.
“That’s irrelevant,” Rubio said flatly when pressed by CBS’s Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on whether Iran’s Supreme Leader had ordered the development of a nuclear weapon. “Forget about intelligence,” he added.
Rubio’s comments came just hours after the U.S. carried out “Operation Midnight Hammer,” a coordinated bombing campaign that hit three major Iranian nuclear facilities. The strikes, part of a joint effort with Israel, caused “extremely severe damage and destruction,” according to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Full details are still being assessed.
Rubio, one of the top officials involved in the decision to launch the strikes, accused Iran of having “weaponization ambitions.” But when Brennan pointed out that the U.S.’s own intelligence assessment said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear bomb, Rubio dismissed it.
Brennan referenced a March report from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who told Congress that Iran had not resumed its nuclear weapons program and that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had not given any order to do so. Iran halted its weapons program in 2003.
President Trump ignored that finding, calling it “wrong.” The White House claimed last week that Iran was just one decision away from having a nuclear bomb — waiting only on Khamenei’s go-ahead.
When Brennan pushed Rubio again, he doubled down: “It doesn’t matter if the order was given.”
Instead, Rubio pointed to findings from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a U.N.-backed nuclear watchdog. “What the IAEA knows [is] they are enriching uranium well beyond anything you need for a civil nuclear program,” Rubio said. “So why would you enrich uranium at 60% if you don’t intend to one day use it to take it to 90 and build a weapon? Why are you developing [Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles]?”
Brennan didn’t dispute the IAEA’s concerns. Still, she asked again: Was there actual intelligence proving Iran had restarted its nuclear weapons program?
“We have intelligence that they have everything they need to build a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said. “And that’s more than enough.”
Watch the video below:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says "it's irrelevant" whether the U.S. had intelligence showing Iran's supreme leader had specifically ordered nuclear weaponization, saying "it doesn't matter whether the order was given. They have everything they need to build nuclear weapons."… pic.twitter.com/6YldeIc38u
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 22, 2025
