Congressional Democrats in Queens roundly criticized President Donald Trump after the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran over the weekend, which set off both protests and celebratory rallies across New York City.
U.S. Reps. Grace Meng, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia Velázquez and Gregory Meeks all criticized Trump for launching Operation Epic Fury on Saturday, which resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for 37 years.
More than 780 people have died in Iran due to the strikes, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
The strikes, and Khamenei’s death, set off protests and celebratory rallies across New York City on Saturday and Sunday, 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’s killing.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has since launched a number of retaliatory strikes against Israel and the US, firing hundreds of ballistic missiles at urban centers in Israel such as Tel Aviv. An Iranian drone also struck the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia, while Iran has also targeted civilian infrastructure in the UAE.
As the conflict continues on Tuesday, the Department of State has called on Americans to immediately leave more than a dozen countries in the Middle East.
Meng, however, blasted the federal government and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for what she said was an inadequate plan to safely evacuate Americans from the Middle East.
Responding to a post urging Americans to leave the Middle East, Meng said the measure was “cruel and irresponsible” after the State Department gutted 1,300 staff last year. She said other nations had arranged flights to help evacuate citizens from the Middle East and called on the U.S. to do the same.
“This is not a plan. Airports are closed. This is cruel and irresponsible – especially after recent State Department personnel cuts,” Meng said on X, formerly Twitter. “US should be helping to secure flights for Americans to leave, as other nations are doing.”
Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, accused Trump of “dragging” the U.S. into a war that American people do not want.
“This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.
Ocasio-Cortez noted that the U.S. and Iran were in the midst of the third round of indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said “good progress” had been made. Trump later said he was “not happy” with Iran’s approach but indicated that he would give negotiators more time to reach an agreement.
Ocasio-Cortez said Trump could have staved off the war if the US had remained in negotiations with Iran.
“The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people.”
“Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different.”
Velázquez, on the other hand, described strikes on Iran as “illegal” and warned that the move would drag the US into “another endless war.” Velázquez called on Congress to pass the War Powers Resolution, introduced by U.S. Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, which would prohibit US Armed Forces from engaging in unauthorized hostilities against Iran.
“This unauthorized war risks the lives of innocent Iranians & US troops. Congress must pass @RepThomasMassie & @RepRoKhanna‘s War Powers Resolution & stop this,” Velázquez said.
Meeks described airstrikes on Iran as a “reckless abuse” of presidential power and said Trump has threatened to pull the U.S. into “another open-ended Middle East war” without a clear exit strategy. He also accused the President of authorizing the strikes without consulting Congress.
“Congress was not consulted, nor was it given the opportunity to authorize the use of force,” Meeks said. “This is an unacceptable breach of its constitutional role.”
Meeks added that the goals that Trump has outlined, including dismantling Iran’s missile arsenal, destabilizing its nuclear program and regime change, are not conducive to a “limited strike.”
“They are the objectives of a prolonged war,” he said. “Military force can degrade Iran’s capabilities, but without a defined end state and real diplomacy, these objectives invite de-escalation.”
However, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose district covers a small part of Queens County, said he agreed with Trump’s objectives to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities, although he called on the President to clearly define his objectives in order to avoid “another costly, prolonged war in the Middle East.”
Suozzi added that Trump briefed the bipartisan House, Senate, and Intelligence leadership prior to the strikes as required and said the President has committed to briefing full Congress in the coming days. Suozzi further added that Trump must seek congressional authorization for the conflict under the War Powers Act.
“Iran remains the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the region and must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Suozzi said on social media. “Preventing that outcome is vital to our national security, the safety of our allies, and the stability of the Middle East.
“The President must now clearly define the national security objective and articulate his plan to avoid another costly, prolonged war in the Middle East.”
