House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says the U.S. should assist Israel with a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran as tensions continue to rise in the Middle East.
Johnson made the comment during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper. The speaker told Tapper that Iran is the “head of the snake,” and fighting proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas will not get the job done.
“We’re on a precipice, I think, Jake, of a new era of security and freedom for Israel. And I think we’re very close, I hope, I pray, to ending that conflict there. But we cannot equivocate. We can’t appease Iran,” Johnson said.
“Now is the time for a maximum pressure campaign against the head of the snake. It’s not Hezbollah and Hamas and the proxies that are ultimately the threat. It is Iran itself, and I think we need to recognize that reality right now,” he added.
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The comments come as Israel is expected to launch a retaliatory strike against Iran in response to the massive wave of missiles Tehran and its allies launched into Israel on Oct. 1.
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Tapper asked Johnson whether there was any action Israel could take that would be too drastic a response.
“It’s not my place to second-guess their strategy or to try to micromanage it,” Johnson said. “I think that we do harm to the overall cause if that’s our position. And I think that’s what the Biden-Harris administration has tried to do at too many points along the way. They have withheld weapons systems, when Congress in a bipartisan manner duly enacted that these things would be supplied.”
Johnson went on to say that the tensions in the Middle East are a “good versus evil conflict,” and that U.S. support must always remain with Israel.
Johnson’s appearance came as the U.S. is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents relating to Israel’s plans for retaliation.
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The documents, attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were shareable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The documents were posted to the Telegram messaging app last week and first reported by CNN and Axios. The AP first reported Sunday about the U.S. investigation into the unauthorized release, citing three U.S. officials. The AP said a fourth U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, indicated that the documents appeared to be legitimate.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.