Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear on Sunday: the Biden-era obsession with technicalities and bureaucratic semantics is over. Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, the United States is back to calling things as they are — and Rubio wasn’t about to let corporate media spin on Iran’s nuclear ambitions go unchallenged.

During a fiery exchange on CBS’ Face the Nation, host Margaret Brennan repeatedly pressed Rubio over whether the U.S. had “intelligence” that Iran’s Supreme Leader had personally given the order to weaponize uranium. Rubio, who also serves as the National Security Advisor in the Trump administration, rejected the line of questioning as both absurd and irrelevant.

“That’s irrelevant. I see that question being asked in the media all the time. That’s an irrelevant question. They have everything they need to build a weapon,” Rubio said, shutting down Brennan’s narrative.

Brennan tried to argue that the absence of a formal order was somehow central to American intelligence assessments, referencing testimony from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard earlier this year. But Rubio quickly dismissed the notion and emphasized that such procedural details mean little when the regime’s intentions are already clear.

“Why would you bury things in a mountain, 300 feet under the ground? Why would they have 60% enriched uranium?” Rubio challenged. “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 so they can one day put a warhead on it,” he continued, hammering home the obvious.

Rubio also rebuked Brennan’s interpretation of Gabbard’s remarks, accusing her of twisting the intent and application of intelligence briefings.

“That’s an inaccurate representation of it. That’s not how intelligence is read. That’s not how intelligence is used,” Rubio said flatly.

The International Atomic Energy Agency appears to back Rubio’s assessment. In a recent report, the IAEA found Iran in clear violation of its nonproliferation commitments — including the unexplained presence of enriched uranium at undeclared nuclear sites. The watchdog concluded that Tehran’s stonewalling since 2019 amounted to “non-compliance” with its international obligations.

“They have the delivery mechanisms, they have the enrichment capability, they have the highly enriched uranium that is stored. That’s all we need to see,” Rubio said. “Especially in the hands of a regime that’s already involved in terrorism and proxies and all kinds of things around. They are the source of all instability in the Middle East.”

As Iran continues its saber-rattling in response to the successful U.S. strikes on its nuclear infrastructure, its parliament has now voted to close the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply travels.

Appearing on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Rubio issued a stern warning: Tehran is playing with fire.

“Well, I would encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call calm about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio said. “If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it, and we retain options to deal with that.”

He added that a unilateral move by Iran to block the strait wouldn’t just provoke the United States — it could draw global condemnation and reprisal.

“Other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours,” Rubio warned. “It would be a massive escalation that would merit a response not just by us, but from others.”