{"id":151453,"date":"2026-03-03T19:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151453\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T19:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T19:49:17","slug":"brooklyn-pols-slam-u-s-attacks-on-iran-as-new-yorkers-react-with-anger-and-joy-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151453\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn pols slam U.S. attacks on Iran as New Yorkers react with anger and joy \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooklyn\u2019s elected officials have largely condemned U.S. strikes in Iran after President Donald Trump launched a military campaign against the country without congressional approval.\n<\/p>\n

The U.S. and Israel began widespread missile strikes across the country on Feb. 28, the start of a campaign the president has since said will likely last weeks or months. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a number of other top Iranian leaders were killed<\/a> in the first days of the conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, nearly 800 Iranians have been killed<\/a>, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, including more than 100 people at a girls\u2019 school. Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah, have launched retaliatory strikes<\/a> on Israel and gulf countries with U.S. military bases, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. Six U.S. troops have been killed<\/a> by those strikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"smokeSmoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour\/West Asia News Agency via Reuters<\/p>\n

Trump has said<\/a> the U.S. is seeking to eliminate Iran\u2019s navy and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But several Brooklyn congress members said the president failed to obtain congressional approval for the strikes and has not provided clear justification for the \u201cact of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIran is a bad actor and must be aggressively confronted for its human rights violations, nuclear ambitions, support of terrorism and the threat it poses to our allies like Israel and Jordan in the region,\u201d said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a statement. \u201cHowever, absent exigent circumstances, the Trump administration must seek authorization for the preemptive use of military force that constitutes an act of war.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeffries said the Trump administration \u201cmust explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately\u201d and provide both an \u201cironclad justification\u201d for the strikes and a plan to avoid \u201canother costly, prolonged military quagmire in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a March 2 speech that while he \u201cwill not shed a tear for Ali Khamenei,\u201d Trump\u2019s strikes did not fit with the wants and needs of the American public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[The American people] don\u2019t want a war that leads to lost American lives and that costs billions and billions of taxpayer dollars. They don\u2019t want a war that raises the price of gas at the pump,\u201d he said. \u201cMake no mistake about it, this is a war of choice, not necessity. And regardless of whether you are a Democrat or Republican or an independent \u2014 or even if you don\u2019t pay attention to politics \u2014 there is one thing almost everyone agrees on: we are sick and tired of endless wars in the Middle East. And there is real danger that is the road we are on right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"schumerSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will back a \u201cwar powers\u201d resolution seeking to pull back on Trump\u2019s ability to deploy troops in Iran. REUTERS\/Kent Nishimura<\/p>\n

Both Schumer and Jeffries said they will back a pair of \u201cwar powers<\/a>\u201d resolutions that would remove U.S. forces from the conflict since it had not been approved by Congress. Brooklyn congress members Yvette Clarke, Dan Goldman and Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez, along with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, have signaled that they will vote in favor of the resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur resolution affirms what the Constitution already says: the President cannot send U.S. forces to fight a war in Iran without Congressional approval,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cAs soon as our resolution comes to the floor, Senators need to pick a side: stand with Americans who don\u2019t want war or stand with Donald Trump as he singlehandedly starts another war.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Brooklyn rep \u2014 U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, New York City\u2019s only Republican congress member \u2014 has praised Trump\u2019s strikes.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States has taken decisive and courageous action against Iran to defend our citizens, interests, and partners after the leading state sponsor of terrorism would not negotiate in good faith or commit to diplomacy over nuclear capabilities,\u201d she said in a Feb. 28 statement. \u201d \u2026 The United States, the Middle East and the world will be a safer and more peaceful place when the oppressive and murderous Iranian regime is eliminated. May God bless our troops as they conduct this courageous and noble mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani, NYPD take \u2018proactive steps\u2019 to protect New Yorkers\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2014 who days earlier had a friendly meeting with Trump in Washington D.C. \u2014 immediately condemned the action.<\/p>\n

The mayor affirmed his solidarity with Iranian-Americans in New York City and wrote in a\u00a0post on X<\/a>\u00a0that the attack marks \u201ca catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace,\u201d Mamdani wrote.\n<\/p>\n

He said City Hall and the New York Police Department had begun taking \u201cproactive steps\u201d to protect New Yorkers\u2019 safety following the attacks, \u201cincluding increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city \u2014 you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here,\u201d Mamdani wrote.<\/p>\n

Strikes set off celebrations, protests<\/p>\n

The strikes, and Khamenei\u2019s death, set off protests and celebratory rallies across New York City over the weekend, with thousands of New Yorkers taking to the streets to voice their opposition to the attacks and attempted regime change. Several opposition groups to the Islamic Republic took to the streets on Sunday to celebrate Khamenei\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is terrified for their family. Everyone I\u2019ve spoken to does not support the Iranian government, and they want a better future for their family, they want freedom and democracy and human rights and a real economic situation where people can afford to live,\u201d said Etan Mabourakh, national organizing manager for the National Iranian-American Council. \u201cBut they don\u2019t have faith that U.S. bombs and this Israeli-led attack will deliver that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"iranSome New Yorkers marched in celebration of the strikes and of Khamenei\u2019s death. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

On Sunday, several groups celebrated Khamenei\u2019s death and supported the U.S.-Israeli attempt at regime change in the country. A coalition of pro-Israel groups marched from the United Nations headquarters in Midtown East to Times Square on Sunday in celebration \u201cwith the brave people of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demonstrators waved American and Iranian flags, expressed support for Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here to celebrate Khamenei\u2019s death and be Iranian people\u2019s voice \u2026 we are here to celebrate, we are ready for regime change, long live King Reza Pahlavi,\u201d Soudabeh Hasseri, an attendee at the demonstration, said.<\/p>\n

Pahlavi, the oldest son of Iran\u2019s last shah and a longtime political activist, is currently living in exile in the U.S. He is supportive of Trump and argues that he is the best leader to return and lead Iran\u2019s new regime.<\/p>\n

\"personDemonstrators waved American and Iranian flags, expressed support for Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Attendees condemned the Iranian regime\u2019s reported human rights abuses \u2014 according to a 2024 report from Amnesty International, Iranian women, girls, LGBTQ people, and religious and ethnic minorities experience \u201csystemic discrimination and violence\u201d in the country. Iranians and human rights watchdogs have raised alarm in recent years over the Iranian government\u2019s \u201csystemic\u201d slaughter of thousands of protesters and increasingly oppressive treatment of the Iranian people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment that all Iranians were waiting for happened last night,\u201d one attendee said, thanking Trump for the United States\u2019 intervention.\n<\/p>\n

Hundreds of New Yorkers marched through Midtown Manhattan on Saturday to protest the attacks, chanting for the end of the U.S.\u2019s intervention in the region and for \u201chands off Iran.\u201d The group was largely made up of anti-war, socialist, and pro-Palestinian groups organized by the People\u2019s Forum and the ANSWER Coalition.<\/p>\n

A version of this story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper\u2019s sister site amNewYork<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooklyn\u2019s elected officials have largely condemned U.S. strikes in Iran after President Donald Trump launched a military campaign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[15768,62617,40048,98,100,99,2065,858,63308,153,4008,14670,63309,60,37404,6827,9,24,12,370,887,63,87,6986,43528,655,63310,21181,63311],"class_list":{"0":"post-151453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-aggression","9":"tag-ali-khamenei","10":"tag-anger","11":"tag-brooklyn","12":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","13":"tag-brooklyn-news","14":"tag-chuck-schumer","15":"tag-congress","16":"tag-death-toll","17":"tag-donald-trump","18":"tag-hakeem-jeffries","19":"tag-iran","20":"tag-iran-war","21":"tag-israel","22":"tag-joy","23":"tag-kirsten-gillibrand","24":"tag-new-york","25":"tag-new-york-city","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-newsletter","28":"tag-nicole-malliotakis","29":"tag-nyc","30":"tag-politics","31":"tag-protest","32":"tag-tehran","33":"tag-trump-administration","34":"tag-u-s-strikes","35":"tag-war","36":"tag-war-powers-resolution"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}