Top US lawmaker Mike Johnson says lying is part of some Iranians’ religion

The Republican House talker defends the US-Israel warfare connected Iran and praises Trump’s ‘steady hands astatine the wheel’.

Mike Johnson, the talker of the United States House of Representatives, has suggested that lying is portion of Iranians’ religion arsenic helium defended President Donald Trump’s determination to motorboat a warfare connected Iran.

Speaking to reporters connected Tuesday, Johnson was asked astir the progressively unpopular policies nether the Republican president, including his determination to articulation Israel successful launching a warfare against Iran successful February.

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The House talker responded by praising Trump, saying the US president has “steady hands astatine the wheel”. After addressing the US commercialized warfare with Canada, helium turned his attraction to the Iran war.

“The occupation has been – and the crushed we’ve been frustrated – is that the Iranians simply cannot beryllium trusted. They’ll beryllium astatine a dialog array and accidental something. They’ll locomotion distant and bash the opposite,” Johnson said.

“For immoderate of them, it’s, you know, seemingly portion of their religion that they tin conscionable prevarication to idiosyncratic they disagree with, truthful that’s been a hard thing.”

Lying is strictly forbidden successful Islam. Johnson’s bureau did not respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for remark by clip of publication.

The warfare successful Iran has been unpopular with the US public. On Monday, a nationwide University of Massachusetts canvass suggested that 54 percent of Americans disapprove of US subject actions against Iran.

The struggle is expected to wounded Republicans’ chances of retaining power of the House and the Senate successful November’s midterm elections.

The struggle saw Iran unopen the Strait of Hormuz, sending lipid and state prices soaring some successful the US and astir the globe.

But the Trump medication and its allies person repeatedly argued that the warfare was indispensable to code an “imminent” atomic menace from Tehran.

In Tuesday’s quality conference, Johnson returned to that argument, saying that the warfare was “necessitated” due to the fact that Iran was adjacent to obtaining a atomic weapon.

That argument, however, has been undermined by statements from wrong the US government.

In June past year, for instance, Trump’s then-intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, told lawmakers that Iran was not weaponising its atomic programme.

“The IC [intelligence community] continues to measure that Iran is not gathering a atomic weapon, and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorised the atomic weapons programme that helium suspended successful 2023,” Gabbard said astatine the time.

Within days of her remarks, connected June 22, 2025, the US subject bombed Iran’s 3 main enrichment facilities, an onslaught Trump repeatedly said had “obliterated” Iran’s atomic programme.

The US and Israel attacked Iran again precocious successful February, sparking an all-out determination warfare that Trump had promised would past six weeks astatine most.

But the struggle entered its seventh period past week with nary extremity successful sight.

Although US officials person said that Washington has loosened Tehran’s grip connected the Strait of Hormuz and succeeded successful getting millions of barrels of lipid done the waterway daily, American consumers are inactive paying precocious prices for petrol.

The accrued vigor costs person besides fuelled wide ostentation successful the US economy.

But Johnson argued that Washington’s allies volition get progressive successful the struggle to assistance reopen the strait, thing they person refused to bash truthful far.

“Right now, the Strait of Hormuz – we person to person stableness determination for commerce, and successful the Red Sea and successful the region,” helium said.

“Other countries astir the world, our NATO allies, the Arab states successful the portion – they person a bigger involvement successful that than Americans do. And I deliberation they’re consenting to assistance successful that respect to marque definite that commerce stays open, truthful we person stableness successful the markets.”