Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, declined to say if Iran is better off without the ayatollah when asked during a press conference on Tuesday.
“I’ve said before that the Iranian government has engaged in systematic repression of its own people, even killing thousands of Iranians who were seeking to express the most basic forms of dissent earlier this year. It is a brutal government,” the mayor said, standing alongside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I’ve also said that while I may be a young mayor, I am old enough to remember the devastating consequences of our country pursuing a war with the intent of regime change in that very same region not that many years ago,” he added, without directly answering the question.
The mayor was also asked about his message to Jewish New Yorkers and Iranian dissidents in the city given “some backlash, some pushback against your remarks about the war, calling it an illegal war of aggression.”
“What I would say to Jewish New Yorkers, to Iranian American New Yorkers, to any New Yorker, frankly, is that my primary responsibility is to keep you safe,” Mamdani said. “As much as I have shared my thoughts when I’ve been asked about the federal government’s actions as well as the actions of the Israeli military, I’ve also focused my time and efforts in being in constant communication with our police commissioner, as well as emergency management officials.”
The mayor said that there have been more patrols at “sensitive locations across the city out of an abundance of caution.”
He also mentioned that many Jewish New Yorkers are celebrating Purim and many Muslims in the city are celebrating Ramadan.
“This is also a time when there is a sense of anxiety about whether New Yorkers can celebrate themselves, their faiths in a moment of such anxiety and tumult across the world,” he said. “We are taking the steps to ensure that our police officers are present” and “visible and reassuring New Yorkers that they do not need to sacrifice an ounce of themselves to be safe in this city.”
“They can be the fullest versions of themselves, and I’m thankful of the work of the men and women of the NYPD in making that the case,” he said.