A Top Mamdani Official Tried to Meet with Iran

The top official in the Zohran Mamdani administration’s Office for International Affairs made plans to meet with Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations.

Commissioner Ana María Archila was scheduled to meet with Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, at 2 United Nations Plaza, alongside two other senior officials in the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs on July 7 at 11 a.m.—this according to screenshots of a calendar invitation reviewed by City Journal and confirmed by a source connected to the international affairs community and another familiar with Archila’s office. Another official within the State Department also confirmed awareness of the Mamdani administration’s impending engagement.

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The meeting between Archila and Iravani was called off after the State Department—which was not informed ahead of time—met with the Mamdani administration to clarify acceptable conduct, according to the State Department official. City Journal learned that Commissioner Archila allegedly did not inform Mayor Mamdani of the meeting; she was reprimanded for the move and directed to cancel the meeting according to the source familiar with the office.

“This meeting did not and will not take place,” a spokesperson with the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs said in a statement. The Iranian mission did not return multiple requests for comment.

The development is a continuation of Commissioner Archila and the Mamdani administration’s ongoing use of public resources to advance an agenda that extends well beyond New York City. On April 16, a message seen by City Journal was sent to staff within the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs asking them to prioritize diplomatic engagement in part based on whether foreign officials “are . . . in political alignment/leftist.” The message confirms previous reporting by El País, noting that Archila has “focused . . . on deepening relations with foreign leaders who share Mamdani’s worldview.”

New York City officials did not originally envision the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs as a means of shaping foreign policy. Its purpose is to exchange best practices with other global cities, bring foreign businesses to the city, and support city government’s relationship with the entire diplomatic community residing in New York City, without regard to political ideology or party.

That makes Archila, who has no prior diplomatic experience, an unusual choice. Mamdani appointed her as commissioner after she had had an exhaustive career in activism and served as co-director of the progressive Working Families Party, whose official position is that the war in Iran “can and must be stopped.”

The Mamdani administration has been notably vocal on foreign policy. The mayor himself has spoken out about U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, describing them as a “catastrophic escalation in an illegal act of war of aggression.” He has also been frequently and explicitly critical of the state of Israel, an opposition he says is based on dislike for any state that “privileges one religion over another”—a description that also covers the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The administration’s international ambitions have not been limited to public comments. Last month, Mamdani intended to meet with leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The meeting was called off after the State Department declined to issue a visa following Petro’s attendance at a rally hosted by Mamdani in September. Archila’s international meetings include a two-day trip to Barcelona in April to participate in a conference hosted by the Party of European Socialists.

That Archila’s meeting was even contemplated raises questions about her judgment and the administration’s priorities. The office’s loosely defined mission is to promote a more “equitable and inclusive society” and strengthen New York City’s position as a global leader. It’s more than a stretch to suggest that a meeting with representatives of a country with whom the United States is engaged in hostilities, and with whom it has no diplomatic relations, would help achieve those ends.