New York City Mayor Eric Adams has sharply criticized Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and other politicians for their reactions to U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, accusing them of showing hypocritical sympathy for the Iranian dictatorship over its oppressed people. Adams argued that Iranian Americans in New York are celebrating the confrontation with the regime that has terrorized their families for decades, while "political fanatics" on the far left and right are defending a regime that commits atrocities. Mamdani had previously stated that Americans do not want the strikes and that the U.S. is "choosing tyrants over victims," a sentiment Adams deemed "morally hollow." Adams also celebrated the death of Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, expressing solidarity with the Iranian people's desire for freedom.