Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams blasted his socialist successor, Zohran Mamdani, for calling the US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran “illegal” while ignoring the brutal Islamist regime’s long reign of terror.
“Let me be very clear. When the mayor of the largest city in America characterizes defensive action against the Iranian regime as ‘illegal’ without acknowledging decades of terror sponsorship, nuclear escalation, and human rights abuses, that is not leadership — that is dangerous oversimplification,” Adams said Sunday in a statement to The Post.
The ex-mayor pointed to Iran’s long history of funding and arming terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas, supporting militia attacks against US forces, advancing nuclear and long-range missile capabilities and suppressing and killing thousands of peaceful protesters.
“Words matter,” Adams chided. “When you are mayor, your statements carry weight — not just in New York, but around the world. New Yorkers deserve leadership that understands the difference between escalation and deterrence.”
More than 7,500 New Yorkers were born in Iran, according to city data, many of whom “fled that regime,” Adams said.
“They did not escape oppression to hear their mayor minimize the threat posed by the very government that terrorized their families,” he said.
“You can advocate for diplomacy. You can call for restraint. But you cannot pretend that Iran’s leadership is a passive actor. It has funded violence, destabilized allies, and suppressed its own citizens for decades,” he said.
Mamdani on Saturday called the strikes in Iran — which took out longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — an “illegal war of aggression” carried out by the US and Israel.
“Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this,” Mamdani posted on X.
“They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace.”
Mamdani’s remarks also caught heat from Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who is looking to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in the November elections.
Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, claimed Mamdani supports Iran’s brutal regime over America by opposing US strikes — and also took aim at Hochul for not condemning the mayor’s comments.
“Zohran Mamdani showed his true loyalty, which is not to America and all peace-loving people but to a brutal terrorist regime, all while American military members are in harm’s way,” Blakeman said Sunday.
“Mamdani’s bestie? Kathy Hochul’s silence has been deafening. Two peas in a pod!” he added.