Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, on Friday, mocking the claims by Islamic Republic leaders that they “do not want nuclear weapons,” said: “They always say they are not interested in having nuclear weapons. No, they’re just interested in everything they need to build a nuclear weapon.”

Mr. Rubio, in a speech at the “Federalist Society,” said the Islamic Republic builds missiles proportional to nuclear armaments and enriches uranium far beyond the level required to produce nuclear power.

He added that if the Islamic Republic’s goal were only to produce nuclear energy, it could have gained access to this technology like South Korea, Japan, and other countries.

To explain his position, the U.S. foreign minister used an example and said: “It’s like someone saying, I don’t intend to commit violence; I just want to buy ammunition and have a gun. It’s true that the ammunition is not inside the gun yet, but it only takes a second to put it inside the gun and turn it into a weapon that can kill people.”