Marco Rubio Says 'Everything Under The Mountains Is In Bad' Shape, Rubbishes Claim Trump Strikes Only Bought Iran Time

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that U.S. air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites have pushed Tehran "much further away" from a bomb, countering a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency estimate that the setback might last only months.

What Happened: Speaking alongside President Donald Trump at a NATO summit, Rubio argued the decisive blow was the destruction of a "conversion facility," the plant that turns gaseous uranium into the solid forms needed to forge a weapon's core. "Everything underneath that mountain is in bad shape," he told reporters. "They are way behind today compared to where they were just seven days ago because of what President Trump did."

Conversion, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, is the hinge of the fuel cycle. Without it, enriched uranium cannot be cast into metal or fuel plates for an explosive device. Iran's main facility at Esfahan historically produced both uranium hexafluoride gas and uranium metal under IAEA safeguards.

Rubio dismissed suggestions that the strike merely bought time. "That story is a false story and really shouldn't be re-reported because it doesn't accurately reflect what's happening," he said, rejecting the DIA's preliminary finding that Iran might replace damaged equipment within the year.

See also: Trump Announces Iran Nuclear Talks Following US Strikes That ‘Severely Damaged’ Iranian Nuclear Program

Why It Matters: Trump repeated that Iran's sites were "obliterated," echoing a White House essay that branded contrary press coverage "fake news." Yet the DIA leak, first reported by CNN and detailed by The Guardian, said Tehran had removed most enriched material before the bombing.

Independent analysts urged caution. The Arms Control Association noted Esfahan was hit only in a second round of strikes and that some conversion lines may be repairable.

Markets are already gaming the fallout. Crypto bettors on Polymarket sharply raised the odds of a 2025 U.S.–Iran nuclear deal after the cease-fire announcement. Meanwhile, Trump’s comparison of the American strikes on Iran to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 sparked criticism from Japanese officials.

Approval ratings for Trump have also taken a beating in the lead-up and aftermath of the attack on Iran, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

Photo Courtesy: Maxim Elramsisy on Shutterstock.com

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