US President Donald Trump has urged residents of Tehran to leave, backing warnings from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has launched a massive attack on Iran.
“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account during a Group of Seven summit in Canada.
Trump did not elaborate. Nearly 10 million people live in the Iranian capital.
The warning comes as Israel ramps up attacks in Iran which it says are aimed at destroying the cleric-run state’s contested nuclear work.
The Israeli military earlier issued a notice urging residents of one district of Tehran to evacuate, an echo of its tactics in Gaza where it has displaced most of the Palestinian population since the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Iran’s state broadcaster was briefly knocked off air by an Israeli strike on Monday, and explosions rang out across Tehran after a barrage of Iranian missiles killed 11 people in Israel on the fourth day of an escalating air war.
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a surprise aerial campaign against targets across Iran, saying it aimed to prevent its arch-foe from acquiring atomic weapons – a charge Tehran denies.
The sudden flare-up in hostilities has sparked fears of a wider conflict, with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer saying from a G7 summit in Canada that he believed there was “a consensus for de-escalation” among leaders of the club of wealthy democracies.
STORY CONTINUES AFTER LIVE BLOG
Israel’s strikes have so far killed at least 224 people, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to Iranian authorities.
Iran has launched several waves of missiles in retaliation, with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warning Monday of “effective, targeted and more devastating operations” to come.
In Tehran, the live feed of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) was abruptly cut when an Israeli strike hit its building on Monday.
A presenter in the midst of lambasting Israel was forced to flee mid-broadcast when a powerful explosion rocked the building, knocking out the monitors behind her and sending debris and dust falling from the ceiling, footage showed.
Israel had previously issued an evacuation warning for the part of town where IRIB is located, with Defence Minister Israel Katz saying before the strike that Iran’s “propaganda and incitement megaphone is about to disappear”.
He later warned that Israel would “strike the Iranian dictator everywhere”.
IRIB resumed its broadcast shortly after the strike, with a senior official at the service saying “the voice of the Islamic revolution... will not be silenced with a military operation”.
Iran condemned Israel’s attack on a state TV building in Tehran on Monday as a “war crime”, and called on the UN Security Council to take action.
The strike on the offices of IRIB during a live broadcast was a “wicked act” and a “war crime”, said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.
“The UNSC must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people,” he added.
After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched a surprise attack, saying it was targeting Iran’s nuclear and military facilities.
So far it has killed at least 224 people in the Islamic republic, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Iran has retaliated with barrages of drone and missiles that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, according to the latest figures from the prime minister’s office.
Iran does not recognise Israel and has long accused it of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities, as well as assassinating its scientists.
Explosions could also be heard elsewhere across the capital, including in the west, where a cloud of black smoke billowed into the sky.
After days of repeated strikes, residents appeared to be streaming out of the city, according to social media posts verified by AFP, showing huge traffic jams on the main road heading north.
In Israel, Iranian attacks on Monday hit Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa – leaving behind shattered homes, smouldering wreckage and stunned residents picking through debris.
“I have four children, four boys. We’re very scared, but everyone is okay,” said Idan Bar, whose building in Petah Tikva was among those hit.
The death toll in Israel rose by 11 on Monday, the Prime Minister’s office said, bringing the total since Friday to 24. The figure included three people killed when a missile struck an oil refinery in Haifa on Sunday, according to an Israeli official.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that a nearby missile strike also lightly damaged a building used by the American embassy in Tel Aviv, while the US State Department warned citizens on Monday not to travel to Israel because of security concerns.
At the same time, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was leaving Southeast Asia after cancelling plans to dock in Vietnam, amid reports it is headed to the Middle East to boost the US presence as Israel and Iran do battle.
Starmer told reporters at the Group of Seven summit in the Canadian Rockies on Monday that he believed his fellow leaders were united in wanting de-escalation between Israel and Iran.
“The risk of the conflict escalating is obvious, I think, and the implications – not just for the region but globally – are really immense, so the focus has to be on de-escalation,” he said.
China urged both sides to “immediately take measures to cool down the tensions” and avoid plunging the region into deeper turmoil.
Iran, in turn, demanded that the International Atomic Energy Agency “take a firm position” in condemning Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meanwhile told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call that Ankara was ready to play a “facilitating role” to end the conflict.
The Israeli military said Monday it had destroyed 120 missile launchers, describing this as a third of Iran’s total.
Addressing Iran’s Parliament, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged citizens to “stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence”.
US President Donald Trump has insisted Washington had “nothing to do” with its ally Israel’s campaign, but warned any Iranian attack on American interests would trigger “the full strength” of the US military.
After indirect nuclear talks between the US and Iran were scuttled by Israel’s attack, Trump on Monday urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table.
“They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” he said from the G7 summit.
A senior US official told AFP that Trump had intervened to prevent Israel from carrying out an assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
–Agence France-Presse