Marco Rubio says its irrelevant whether Iran was actively pursuing a nuke before US bombed

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday it’s “irrelevant’’ whether the US had intelligence that Iran was actively pursuing a nuclear weapon before bombing it.Rubio said the mere fact that Iran had “everything they need to build nuclear weapons” justified President Trump’s decision to take action against the theocratic regime.“That’s irrelevant,” Rubio told CBS’ “Face the Nation” when pressed about US intelligence on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.“They have everything they need to build a weapon.”Earlier this year, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified, “The IC [intelligence community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamanei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.”President Trump has split with that assessment, and Gabbard has since contended her words were taken out of context and highlighted other portions of her testimony in which she warned about Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has already taken preemptive strikes against Iran, defended the moves by claiming he has “absolutely clear” intelligence that Iran was “working [on] a secret plan to weaponize the uranium.”Questions about the intelligence have been fueled by concerns over blunders in the past, such as claims about weapons of mass destruction that led up to the US’s 2003 invasion of Iraq.Israel’s attack against Iran came days before another round of negotiations with the theocratic regime over its nuclear program were set to take place.

“They have everything they need to build nuclear weapons.  Why would you bury things in a mountain 300 feet under the ground,” Rubio argued, referring to the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.“You don’t need 60 percent enriched uranium. The only countries in the world that have uranium at 60 percent are countries that have nuclear weapons.”Typically, 90% ...