Rubio says Iran’s fate lies with Supreme Leader as nuclear talks reach critical stage

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the United States has offered a limited window for diplomacy with Iran for a peaceful resolution on its nuclear program, but warned that the decision now rests with Iran’s Supreme Leader.

“In the end, the decision lies in the hands of one person, and that's the Supreme Leader in Iran, and I hope he chooses the path of peace and prosperity, not a destructive path, and we'll see how that plays out,” Rubio said in an interview from Turkey.

He emphasized the US distinction between the Iranian establishment and its people. “Our problem is not with the Iranian people. The Iranian people are peaceful people, an ancient civilization and culture we admire greatly. Our problem is with a clerical regime that is behind every problem in the region.”

Rubio blamed Tehran for backing regional instability. “Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, the militias that have conducted attacks out of Iraq and Syria, they all track back to the Iranian regime. Syria, all the instability in Syria tracks back to the Iranian regime.”

“It’s a regime that every day and every Friday chants, you know, death to Israel, death to America. We have to believe them when they say that,” he added. “A regime like that can never have nuclear weapons.”

Rubio pointed to the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which showed Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium grew from 182 kilograms to 275 kilograms in early 2025.

“They are fairly close. Too close for comfort, to a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said in an interview from Turkey. “Once you're at 60, you're 90% of the way there. You are, in essence, a threshold nuclear weapons state, which is what Iran basically has become.”

US and Iranian officials have held four rounds of talks since President Donald Trump took office. Both sides have described the negotiations as “constructive” so far.