Zohran Mamdani Speaks at Queens Mosque Where Imam Called for 'Killing of Infidels'"
Al-Khoei Islamic Foundation, where the NYC Mayor spoke, has financial ties to Alavi Foundation, which federal prosecutors alleged served as a front for the Islamic Republic of Iran
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended and spoke at the Friday prayers at the Imam Al-Khoei Islamic Center in Jamaica, Queens, during a service in which the mosque's imam delivered a supplication. According to a translation by MEMRI TV, the supplication called for "the killing of the infidels by your sword" in reference to the Shi'a messianic figure known as the Mahdi.
The Al-Khoei Islamic Center operates under the Imam Al-Khoei Benevolent Foundation and has received documented financial support from the Alavi Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit whose Manhattan real estate interests became the subject of the largest ever terrorism-related forfeiture case in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors alleged that the Alavi Foundation served as a front for Iranian government interests and violated U.S. sanctions regulations.
MEMRI’s video shows Mamdani addressing the congregation, followed in the same service by the imam’s dua (supplication) in Arabic. The English subtitles provided by MEMRI render a key passage as an appeal for “the killing of the infidels by your sword,” presented as part of an eschatological prayer about the Mahdi’s anticipated return.
Documented Financial Pipeline from Iranian-Linked Foundation
IRS Form 990-PF filings establish a direct financial relationship between the Alavi Foundation and the Queens mosque. The Alavi Foundation’s tax filing for the year ending March 31, 2013 lists a $25,000 “domestic contribution” to the “Al-Khoei Benevolent Foundation” at the Jamaica, NY address. A subsequent Form 990-PF for the year ending March 31, 2016 shows an additional $360 payment for “publication/book distribution” to an “Imam Al-Khoei Foundation.”
These documented transactions occurred during and after the period when federal litigation had already established Alavi’s alleged role in serving Iranian government interests. The 2013 donation came in the same year that a federal court found the foundation’s primary asset was “secretly owned and controlled by the Government of Iran.”
The Alavi Foundation: An Alleged Front for Iranian Interests
The Alavi Foundation, tax-exempt since 1974 and operating from 650 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, became the centerpiece of extensive U.S. government enforcement actions targeting Iranian sanctions evasion. In 2013, the FBI announced that a federal court had found the 650 Fifth Avenue office tower was “secretly owned and controlled by the Government of Iran” and subject to forfeiture for violations of Iranian Transactions Regulations and money laundering offenses.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2014 settlement announcement detailed how the Alavi Foundation “provided services to the Iranian Government,” including transferring funds from the real estate entity to Bank Melli Iran, which DOJ described as “wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Iran.” Federal prosecutors characterized the ownership structure as “Iran’s slice of Manhattan”.
In an Iran-sanctions forfeiture case, federal prosecutors sought forfeiture aimed at seizing 650 Fifth Avenue—described by DOJ as worth at least $500 million—along with other property and bank accounts tied to alleged sanctions violations. Congressional legislation later provided that if the United States receives a final judgment forfeiting the properties in In Re 650 Fifth Avenue & Related Properties, the net proceeds of any sale (excluding U.S. litigation expenses and sales costs) are deposited into the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
Twelver Shi’ism and the Mahdi Doctrine
The Al-Khoei Islamic Center operates within the Twelver Shi’a tradition, the dominant branch of Shi’a Islam in Iran and Iraq. Twelver Shi’ism holds that twelve divinely guided imams succeeded the Prophet Muhammad, with the twelfth imam—Muhammad al-Mahdi—believed to be in occultation since 941 CE and expected to return as a messianic figure to establish justice before the Day of Judgment.
The imam's supplication captured in the MEMRI video appears to have evoked this same eschatological framework during the Friday prayer service where Mamdani spoke.