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How Does Ilhan Omar Really Feel About Iran?
Last week’s launch of more than 300 drones and missiles marked the first time that Iran had attacked Israel from its territory. For years, Iran’s malign behavior has focused on accelerating its nuclear weapons program and strengthening its terror proxies. The country’s decision to directly confront Israel sparked condemnations from across the aisle, with Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) affirming that “as Israel faces this vicious attack from Iran, America must show our full resolve to stand with our critical ally. The world must be assured: Israel is not alone.” Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) online post mirrored a similar promise that America will “stand with the people of Israel during this moment of significant challenge.”
Unsurprisingly, members of the Democratic Party’s far-left faction, known as “The Squad,” remained quiet Saturday evening after news broke of Iran’s unprecedented assault against the Jewish nation. After years of maligning Israel in Congress, their refusal to immediately respond to the Islamic Republic’s blatant aggression illustrates a calculated effort aimed at fostering a false moral equivalence between Israel and Iran, the leading global sponsor of terror.
For her part, Democrat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (MN) released a delayed statement on Sunday, nearly 24 hours following Iran’s missile barrage against Israel. Her comments denounced “leaders in Washington” rushing to provide “additional offensive weapons to the Israeli military,” and also linked Iran’s terrorist intentions with Israel’s alleged actions in Syria earlier in April, which resulted in the killing of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a mastermind of attacks against Israeli civilians. That’s why he was in Syria.
Indeed, Omar’s connecting the incidents reflects her pattern of distortions about Israel’s strategic and political realities in the region.
Omar’s deployment of troubling language and her postponed communication in the aftermath of last Saturday’s attack embodies the politician’s habit of redirecting criticism away from Iran through a dual approach of issuing libelous accusations against Israel, in tandem with ignoring Iranian terror.
For example, this week, the US House of Representatives passed a series of pro-Israel and anti-Iran bills and resolutions. One item considered was a straightforward resolution condemning “Iran’s Unprecedented Drone and Missile Attack on Israel.” The legislative proposal passed the House on Thursday in an overwhelming 404-14 vote. Omar was one of 13 Democrats voting against the non-controversial measure, which denounces Iran’s brazen actions targeting millions of Israelis this past Saturday and reaffirms Israel’s right to self-defense.
Another bill on the floor Monday — the “No US Financing for Iran Act” — split liberal-leaning legislators, with 104 Democrats voting against restricting US financial entities, such as the Treasury Department, from conducting specific transactions with Iran. It bears mentioning that Minority Leader Jeffries joined Omar and over 100 progressive colleagues in voting against the measure. That approximately half of House Democrats blocked a motion that would impose financial penalties on the world’s most potent terrorist arm suggests a disturbing depth of ideological capture within the party’s movement. It’s a phenomenon that was absent decades ago, and yet is now stoked by lawmakers like Omar, whose reach is maximized by an intersectional agenda championed by far-leftists and accommodated by moderates.
Moreover, Omar’s views not only fall outside the American mainstream, but her instincts to placate Iran are at odds with an increasing number of Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, whose commitments to coalescing against extremism were evidenced on Saturday, as both countries played parts in intercepting Iranian missiles bound for Israel.
In an interview with Israeli Public Broadcaster KAN News this week, a source from the Saudi royal family alluded to Iran fomenting terror and its involvement in the October 7 massacre, claiming that Iran’s role in Hamas’ attack stemmed from a desire to thwart an Israel-Saudi normalization agreement.
And since reports first surfaced highlighting Iran’s complicity in plotting the events of October 7, more details are emerging on the sums of cash gifted to Hamas from Iran, with some of the payments totaling millions dollars directly handed to Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza.
This month, The Times of London revealed details surrounding the economic windfall Hamas receives from Tehran in an exclusive report. The Times feature outlines a batch of secret letters discovered by Israel’s military, with some showing specific payments being made to the terrorist group between 2014 and 2020, totaling over $150 million. Omar’s refusal to acknowledge evidence implicating Iran in the October 7 attacks demonstrates a concerted policy of protecting a regime whose rogue actions and threatening rhetoric take aim at the Jewish state, and the entire free world.
In fact, mere hours after Palestinian terrorists perpetrated the worst mass attack against the Jews since the Holocaust, Omar was demanding “deescelation and ceasefire.” Over six months later, Omar’s calls for a ceasefire repeatedly consists of lofty language on the need for “peace” and “humanity.” Yet absent from these proclamations are any mention of Iran. Instead, the Minnesota Congresswoman persists in granting Iran a pass for its evil behavior, while sharing continuous streams of propaganda directed at Israel. What’s more, by blocking bills designed to kneecap the Islamic regime’s financial flow, Omar is indicating that the antisemitism defining her Congressional tenure is now manifesting through a carefully crafted platform, rendering America’s foreign enemy free of any disapproval.
Since taking office in 2019, Omar has advanced the Democratic Party’s absorption of an ideology antithetical to American ideals and Western values. Her unwillingness to condemn Iran cements her stain on Congress and piques the curiosity of those questioning which side of the anti-Iran terror equation Ilhan Omar falls on?
Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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