Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, a far-left Democrat running in California’s 65th Assembly District, is an anti-war climate activist who’s called to defund the Pentagon — even as her household has profited from one of the nation’s largest weapons manufacturers.
The DSA-aligned candidate is the spouse of Fazlul Zubair, who works as a systems engineer manager for Raytheon, the same company that built the Tomahawk missiles reportedly used in the Iran strikes over the weekend.
The California Post asked Iqbal-Zubair to respond to the contradiction between her policy positions and her husband’s employment to Raytheon, which rebranded to the RTX Corporation in 2023.
“I have no comment,” she told The Post.
Iqbal-Zubair previously ran for state assembly in 2020 and 2022, when she was endorsed by the Democratic Socialist of America, an organization that pushes anti-war policies and advocates to defund the US military.
The Post reached out to the DSA to ask if it was aware of Iqbal-Zubair’s connection to one of the world’s largest defense contractors, but did not hear back.
In 2020, the lefty candidate failed to disclose her husband’s income on her candidate financial disclosure form and received a warning letter from the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Screenshots from a since deleted X account from 2022 show Iqbal-Zubair allegedly tweeted to “demilitarized our entire world & defund the Pentagon.”
In a Facebook post on January 4, 2026, Iqbal-Zubair said “enough endless wars” and “enough enriching war profiteers and billionaire interests,” while posing with protesters holding a “stop bombing Venezuela” sign.
However, reports indicate RTX played a key role in the Venezuela attack that led to the capture of ousted leader Nicolás Maduro with the use of directed energy — the weapons giant is a lead developer in the technology.
In Iran, the Tomahawk cruise missiles that bombarded Tehran over the weekend were also produced by RTX, according to Reuters.
Iqbal-Zubair is also a staunch supporter of climate change initiatives, and works for the California Environmental Voters as a legislative affairs manager — however, her husband’s employer has faced repeated lawsuits and fines over environmental concerns.
RTX has been involved in multiple clean up efforts over the years for environmental hazards, including contaminated water and polluted air.
Iqbal-Zubair’s husband, Fazlul, has worked for the company since 2008, when the stock price was trading around $40 per share — fast forward and shares have skyrocketed to $212.
Defense contractors, like RTX and Lockheed Martin have been huge beneficiaries from the ongoing conflicts in the middle east.
RTX saw its stock price spike nearly 5% on Monday, according to Barron’s, and the company’s $88.6 billion in sales in 2025 represents about a 10% growth from the prior year. In 2024, the company reported sales of $80.7 billion and $68.9 billion the year before.
In February, RTX secured longterm deals with the Department of War to increase annual production of Tomahawk missiles and other weapons.
Lockheed Martin rose about 3% Monday, but since the first strike on Iran in June the company’s shares have gained 40%, according to Barron’s.