Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) said Iran was following the same model as North Korea to get a nuclear weapon Wednesday on America's Newsroom, arguing the U.S. should not support any deal not requiring Iran to completely abandon uranium enrichment.
Pointing out there are other countries with civilian nuclear programs that do not enrich domestically, Rubio said Iran had no right to expect special treatment.
"They keep saying it's for peaceful purposes, but if that's the case, why are they enriching beyond the necessary level needed for a civilian program?" Rubio asked. "And why do they keep investing in long-range rockets? The answer is because they want a nuclear weapons program. They are going the same direction, they are following the exact same model that North Korea followed in getting their weapon."
Full exchange:
MARTHA MACCALLUM: I know you are about to give a speech on foreign policy and obviously there's a lot going on in Iran right now, and discussions in Geneva over whether or not we should lift some of our sanctions. What are you going to say this morning on that?
MARCO RUBIO: On the Iranian situation, we need to understand who we're dealing with here. The Iranians' goal in any negotiations is very clear. They want to get these sanctions lifted without having to agree to any irreversible concessions, so that one day down the road, in three or five years, or whenever they decide is necessary, they can break out and get a nuclear weapon. Their goal is to become the dominant power in the Middle East, and they see nuclear weapons as a key to that. We should be aware that any deal we do that does not require them to completely abandon the enrichment of uranium and the reprocessing of plutonium is not something that we should support. They don't have a right to enrichment. There are plenty of nuclear powers around the world that have civilian nuclear programs that do not enrich domestically. There's no need for Iran to do it, they don't have a right to do it, and we shouldn't concede the right for them to do it.
MACCALLUM: What would you do though? What would you do to prevent it?
RUBIO: I'd vote to continue to increase sanctions until they agree to abandon their nuclear program. They keep saying it's for peaceful purposes, but if that's the case, why are they enriching beyond the necessary level needed for a civilian program? And why do they keep investing in long-range rockets? The answer is because they want a nuclear weapons program. They are going the same direction, they are following the exact same model that North Korea followed in getting their weapon.