The Epoch Times

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that if Iran decides to target American military bases in the Middle East, the United States will respond accordingly. “Obviously, we'll defend our people,” Rubio said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We're prepared to do that, but we'll do more than just defend—we'll impose costs on Iran if they attack American personnel, whether they do it directly or whether they do it through some of these proxies that they try to hide behind. And that includes the Houthis.” Rubio said he hopes Iran doesn't choose that route and instead opts to enter into negotiations with the United States. “We have achieved our objectives. We're ready to negotiate this in a peaceful, diplomatic way,” he said.

During a Sunday appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about the U.S. intelligence community’s March assessment that the Iranian regime was not actively building a nuclear warhead. “That’s an inaccurate representation of it,” Rubio said. "What the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] knows: they are enriching uranium well beyond anything you need for a civil nuclear program.” Uranium only needs to be enriched to 3.67 percent for civilian electricity production. The IAEA stated in early May that Iran has enriched Uranium up to 60 percent. Building a nuclear warhead requires 90 percent enriched uranium. “So why would you enrich uranium at 60 percent, right? If you don't intend to one day use it to take it to 90 [percent] and build a weapon? Why are you developing ICBMs?” Rubio said. “Why would you bury things in a mountain 300 feet under the ground?” Rubio said Iran doesn’t need 60 percent enriched uranium and that only countries with nuclear weapons possess it, because it can quickly be further enriched to reach 90 percent. "We have intelligence that they have everything they need to build a nuclear weapon, and that's more than enough," he added. Rubio said Iran should turn over its 60 percent enriched uranium to other nations that can “down blend it” and use it for other purposes. “If what they want is a civil, peaceful nuclear program, the route has always been there,” he added.