US House Speaker Mike Johnson Claims Lying Is Part of Iranian Religion Amid Defense of War

US House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested that lying is part of Iranians’ religion while defending President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a war on Iran. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Johnson addressed the increasingly unpopular policies under the Republican president, including his decision to join Israel in launching a war against Iran in February.

Johnson praised President Donald Trump, stating the US president has “steady hands at the wheel”. After discussing the US trade war with Canada, he turned his focus to the conflict with Iran.

“The problem has been – and the reason we’ve been frustrated – is that the Iranians simply cannot be trusted. They’ll sit at a negotiation table and say something. They’ll walk away and do the opposite,” Johnson said. “For some of them, it’s, you know, apparently part of their religion that they can just lie to someone they disagree with, so that’s been a difficult thing.” Lying is strictly forbidden in Islam, and Johnson’s office did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment by the time of publication.

The war in Iran has faced strong public disapproval. A nationwide University of Massachusetts poll on Monday indicated that 54 percent of Americans disapprove of US military actions against Iran, a conflict expected to impact Republicans’ chances of retaining control of the House and the Senate in November’s midterm elections. The fighting led Iran to shut the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil and gas prices to surge globally and within the US.

Despite this, the Trump administration and its allies have argued that the war was necessary to counter an “imminent” nuclear threat from Tehran. In Tuesday’s news conference, Johnson reiterated that position, arguing the war was “necessitated” because Iran was nearing a nuclear weapon.

That justification has been challenged by statements from within the US government. In June last year, then-intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers that Iran was not weaponising its nuclear programme. “The IC [intelligence community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons programme that he suspended in 2023,” Gabbard stated at the time.

Days after her comments, on June 22, 2025, the US military bombed Iran’s three main enrichment facilities. President Donald Trump repeatedly asserted that the attack “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme. Subsequent US and Israel attacks on Iran in late February sparked a wider regional war that President Donald Trump previously predicted would last no more than six weeks. The conflict entered its seventh month last week with no clear resolution.

Although US officials reported that Washington has loosened Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz and increased daily oil shipments through the waterway, American consumers continue to face high petrol prices, which have driven up overall inflation in the US economy.

Johnson expressed confidence that Washington’s allies would eventually step in to help reopen the strait. “Right now, the Strait of Hormuz – we have to have stability there for commerce, and in the Red Sea and in the region,” he said. “Other countries around the world, our NATO allies, the Arab states in the region – they have a bigger stake in that than Americans do. And I think they’re willing to assist in that regard to make sure that commerce stays open, so we have stability in the markets.”