In the wake of the US air strikes in Iran, United States secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Sunday it “does not matter” whether American intelligence showed that Tehran had ordered the development of a nuclear weapon, and explained why he thinks like that.Rubio made the remark on CBS show “Face The Nation,” where he was interviewed by host Margaret Brennan.Pointing to Rubio’s response to an earlier question, Brennan asked him if the United States “did not see intelligence that the (Iranian) Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) had ordered the weaponization (of uranium).”He dismissed the question as “irrelevant” and proceeded to have a back-and-forth with the host.“It doesn’t matter…they (Iran) have everything to build nuclear weapons. Why would you bury things in mountain, 300 feet under the ground,” Rubio, who is also the caretaker national security adviser, said, referring to the three nuclear sites which were targeted during the operation on Sunday.“Why would 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. They have all the elements. Why do they have a space program? Is Iran going to go to the moon? No. They’re trying to build an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) so they can one day put a warhead on it,” he added.Further, Brennan cited the March congressional testimony by US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard on Iran’s nuclear programme. In days leading up to the strikes, US President Donald Trump would say that the assessment was “wrong.”Gabbard’s testimony was that Iran had not ordered the construction of a nuclear weapon.“That’s an inaccurate representation of it. That’s not how intelligence is read. That’s now how intelligence is used,” Rubio responded.The United States conducted its strikes in the Islamic Republic under Operation Midnight Hammer. This marked its entry in the ongoing conflict of its ally Israel with Iran, centred on the Iranian nuclear programme.
