Arya News - In a series of contradictory and unfounded statements, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, while defending Washington and Tel Aviv’s illegal military aggression against Iran, made an offensive remark targeting the religious beliefs of Iranians, alleging that “lying is apparently part of their religion.” Such a claim stands in stark contradiction to the teachings of Islam, where lying is explicitly forbidden, and where Iranian Muslims have consistently upheld principles of honesty and fidelity to their commitments.
Speaking at a press conference to rally support for President Donald Trump’s hawkish policies, Johnson sought to frame Iran as an untrustworthy actor, claiming that Tehran “sits at the negotiating table saying one thing and does the opposite.” Yet, it is the United States that has a long record of breaching international agreements—most notably its unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA—while Iran has repeatedly demonstrated compliance with its obligations under international oversight.
Johnson further resurrected the long-debunked allegation of an “imminent nuclear threat” from Iran to justify the ongoing war. However, his narrative directly contradicts official U.S. intelligence assessments. Just last year, Tulsi Gabbard, then Director of National Intelligence under Trump, explicitly testified before Congress that “Iran is not building a nuclear weapon” and that Supreme Leader Khamenei had not authorised any weapons programme since suspending it in 2023. This clear inconsistency exposes the hollow pretexts used by Washington to wage a war that has neither legal legitimacy nor public support—even domestically, as a recent poll shows 54% of Americans disapprove of U.S. military actions against Iran.
The imposed war has not only caused civilian casualties and destroyed peaceful nuclear infrastructure but has also disrupted global energy security, driving up fuel prices in the U.S. itself. Nevertheless, Johnson claimed that other nations—NATO allies and Arab states—should step in to secure the Strait of Hormuz, seemingly ignoring the fact that Iran, as a responsible maritime power, has always upheld safe passage through the strait, while tensions are rooted in foreign military interference.
The Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects these baseless accusations and reaffirms that its defence policy is entirely peaceful and lawful. Iran’s leadership and people view such rhetoric as a sign of the U.S. administration’s strategic failure and moral bankruptcy, and they remain vigilant against any form of coercion or aggression. The Iranian nation, with its deep-rooted culture of truthfulness, regards these repeated falsehoods from American officials not as credible threats, but as desperate attempts to mask an unjust war that has already backfired on its architects.