Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a clear-eyed assessment of the Iranian threat during a press briefing on Wednesday, signaling that while the administration remains open to a diplomatic path, the window for Tehran to change course is narrowing.
Rubio’s message was unmistakable: the United States will no longer tolerate an Iranian regime that builds “hidden” nuclear infrastructure while pointing a massive arsenal of ballistic missiles at American interests.
Rubio addressed the talks recommencing on Thursday by reminding the world that Iran’s nuclear ambitions remain the primary flashpoint. Despite the crippling of their program under Operation Midnight Hammer, Rubio warned that the regime has not abandoned its desire to enrich uranium.
“After their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it, and here they are,” he noted. “You can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it. They’re not enriching right now, but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”
Rubio directly challenged the “peaceful energy” narrative often peddled by Tehran. He noted that if Iran truly wanted nuclear power, it would follow the model of other nations — utilizing above-ground reactors and imported fuel. Instead, their insistence on enriching uranium deep inside mountains suggests a singular, more sinister goal.
“If what they really wanted was energy from it, they could do small modular reactors, which is something that’s quite affordable and achievable for a lot of countries,” Rubio said. “But when you say we want to enrich and we want to enrich deep underground, and you have a history in the past of enriching to 20 and even 60 percent, plus you’re building missiles that could potentially carry warheads, that doesn’t sound to me like someone who’s a country that’s not interested in building weapons.”
“You would have to lack common sense to not know what that means,” Rubio remarked.
He then shifted to Iran’s conventional military capabilities, arguing that the threat extends well beyond the nuclear file.
“Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our bases in the region and our partners in the region, and all of our bases in the UAE, in Qatar, in Bahrain,” he pointed out. “They also possess naval assets that threaten shipping and try to threaten the U.S. Navy. So I want everybody to understand that, and beyond just the nuclear program they possess these conventional weapons that are solely designed to attack America and attack Americans, if they so choose to do so. These things have to be addressed.”
“For a country that’s facing sanctions, whose economy is in tatters… somehow they still find the money to invest in missiles of greater and greater capacity every year,” Rubio said. “This is an unsustainable threat.”
Asked whether the upcoming negotiations represent the “last chance” for a peaceful resolution, Rubio remained measured but firm. He said President Trump “greatly prefers” a diplomatic solution and wants progress “more than anything else.”
But Rubio made clear there is a major sticking point: Iran’s refusal to discuss its ballistic missile program.
“The Iranian insistence on not discussing ballistic missiles is a big, big problem,” he said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
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