Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, a far-left Democrat operating in California’s sixty fifth Meeting District, is an anti-war local weather activist who’s referred to as to defund the Pentagon — at the same time as her family has profited from one of many nation’s largest weapons producers.
The DSA-aligned candidate is the partner of Fazlul Zubair, who works as a methods engineer supervisor for Raytheon, the identical firm that constructed the Tomahawk missiles reportedly used within the Iran strikes over the weekend.
The California Put up requested Iqbal-Zubair to reply to the contradiction between her coverage positions and her husband’s employment to Raytheon, which rebranded to the RTX Company in 2023.
“I’ve no remark,” she informed The Put up.
Iqbal-Zubair beforehand ran for state meeting in 2020 and 2022, when she was endorsed by the Democratic Socialist of America, a company that pushes anti-war insurance policies and advocates to defund the US army.
The Put up reached out to the DSA to ask if it was conscious of Iqbal-Zubair’s connection to one of many world’s largest protection contractors, however didn’t hear again.
In 2020, the lefty candidate did not disclose her husband’s revenue on her candidate monetary disclosure kind and acquired a warning letter from the Honest Political Practices Fee.
Screenshots from a since deleted X account from 2022 present Iqbal-Zubair allegedly tweeted to “demilitarized our complete world & defund the Pentagon.”
In a Fb put up on January 4, 2026, Iqbal-Zubair mentioned “sufficient countless wars” and “sufficient enriching conflict profiteers and billionaire pursuits,” whereas posing with protesters holding a “cease bombing Venezuela” signal.
Nonetheless, stories point out RTX performed a key function within the Venezuela assault that led to the seize of ousted chief Nicolás Maduro with the usage of directed power — the weapons large is a lead developer within the expertise.
In Iran, the Tomahawk cruise missiles that bombarded Tehran over the weekend had been additionally produced by RTX, in line with Reuters.
Iqbal-Zubair can also be a staunch supporter of local weather change initiatives, and works for the California Environmental Voters as a legislative affairs supervisor — nonetheless, her husband’s employer has confronted repeated lawsuits and fines over environmental considerations.
RTX has been concerned in a number of clear up efforts through the years for environmental hazards, together with contaminated water and polluted air.
Iqbal-Zubair’s husband, Fazlul, has labored for the corporate since 2008, when the inventory worth was buying and selling round $40 per share — quick ahead and shares have skyrocketed to $212.
Protection contractors, like RTX and Lockheed Martin have been enormous beneficiaries from the continued conflicts within the center east.
RTX noticed its inventory worth spike practically 5% on Monday, in line with Barron’s, and the corporate’s $88.6 billion in gross sales in 2025 represents a few 10% progress from the prior yr. In 2024, the corporate reported gross sales of $80.7 billion and $68.9 billion the yr earlier than.
In February, RTX secured longterm offers with the Division of Conflict to extend annual manufacturing of Tomahawk missiles and different weapons.
Lockheed Martin rose about 3% Monday, however for the reason that first strike on Iran in June the corporate’s shares have gained 40%, in line with Barron’s.
