Local, state and federal elected officials representing Wantagh and Seaford reacted to the bombing of key military targets and the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other government leaders on Saturday in what President Donald Trump said was a massive operation to destroy the country’s military capabilities and eliminate any threat that Iran will create nuclear weapons.
“We stand in firm support of the United States Armed Forces and the Israeli military as they take necessary, decisive action to defend our nations and restore stability to the Middle East,” Town of Hempstead Supervisor John Ferretti, a Republican, wrote in a Facebook post, adding that “a nuclear-armed Iran is an unacceptable, existential threat. Allowing this regime to obtain nuclear weapons would make the entire world far less safe.”
Ferretti and other South Shore elected officials described the Iranian government as the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism. Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear enrichment activities are entirely peaceful.
Long Island is home to more than 10,000 people of Iranian descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with roughly 9,600 in Nassau County.
U.S. Representatives Laura Gillen and Andrew Garbarino both argued that Iran should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons — but they differed in their characterizations of the United States’ attacks. Garbarino, a Republican, described the operation as “targeted military action” after what he said was “continued threats against our forces and our allies.”
“America stands with our military,” Garbarino wrote in a Facebook post, “America stands with Israel. And America will always defend what is right.”
Gillen, a Democrat, called for the administration to follow the law and consult Congress on any major military action, which is required under the War Powers Act of 1973. “This is a serious moment and I am praying for the safety of our brave American forces,” she wrote on Facebook.
The strikes came two days after the latest U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, on Feb. 26. Iran launched counterattacks, firing drones and missiles at Israel and strikes aimed at American military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, said Saturday night that at least 200 people had been killed and more than 700 injured.
Three American service members were killed and five others were seriously wounded during the attacks, the U.S. military announced Sunday.
Gillen and Garbarino both extended their condolences to the service members who were killed. “Their courage and dedication to our nation will never be forgotten,” Gillen wrote. Garbarino described their sacrifice as “something we can never repay and should never forget.”
Trump called those who were killed “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.” He added that the U.S. would avenge their deaths.
Khamenei’s death was announced on social media by Trump on Saturday, and state TV in later confirmed it on Sunday. The death of the supreme leader, according to former Rep. Peter King, a Republican who represented South Shore communities including Wantagh and Seaford from 1993 to 2021 in Congress, was “outstanding news.”
Critics described Khamenei, 86, as a religious despot, but his supporters viewed him as someone who stood up to the U.S. and Israel. He repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel.
“A war is never over until it’s over but you couldn’t ask for a better first day,” King, a Seaford resident, wrote of the announcement that Khamenei had been killed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the U.S.’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, described the actions of the Trump administration in Iran as “unnecessary, unjustified, and unconstitutional.” Representatives of the Islamic Center of Wantagh did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a video on Facebook that there would be an increased police presence across the county to ensure that there are “no violent acts against Jewish institutions — or any religious institution.”
