Trump tells Iranians to 'immediately evacuate' Tehran after Israel hits state broadcaster

SBS Australia

6 hours ago

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting building was struck in an Israeli attack. Source: Getty / Alexi J. Rosenfeld Israeli airstrikes have damaged Iran's main uranium enrichment plant and hit state media offices.
Iran warned of its "largest and most intense" missile attack yet in response.
Iran called on the US to pressure Israel into an immediate ceasefire. United States President Donald Trump 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 G7 summit in Canada. Trump did not elaborate. Nearly 10 million people live in the Iranian capital. "Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. The warning comes as Israel ramps up attacks in Iran which it says are aimed at destroying the state's contested nuclear weapons.
Trump has repeatedly declined to say if the US would participate in Israeli military action, although he has said it was not involved in the initial strikes. He earlier told reporters at the G7 summit: "As soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something. But I have to leave here." Later, the White House said Trump will leave the summit on Monday night, a day early, due to the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict. "Because of what's going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.
An Iranian state television reporter had to stop a live broadcast on Monday when an explosion occurred an hour after Israel issued a warning to leave a part of Tehran where the TV studios are located. Presenter Sahar Emami of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network rushed off-camera as the screen behind her cut out, and people were heard saying "Allahu Akbar", the Arabic phrase for God is great. The broadcast quickly switched to pre-recorded programs. Soon, Emami came back live from another studio and was seen speaking with another anchor.
Emami said "bodies of reporters" were at the site of the initial broadcast, and images showed smoke and flames in the sky. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz took responsibility for the attack. "The Iranian regime's propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of the area's residents," Katz said in a statement. The strike on the offices of the broadcaster was a "wicked act" and a "war crime", said Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei. "The UNSC must act now to stop the genocidal aggressor from committing further atrocities against our people," he said.
As tensions escalated, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on X: "If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential." "Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu," he wrote. Sources told Reuters news agency Iran had asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press Trump to use his influence on Netanyahu and push for an immediate ceasefire. In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, said the two Iranian and three regional sources.
Netanyahu told troops at an air base Israel was on its way to achieving its two main aims: wiping out Iran's nuclear program and destroying its missiles. "We are on the path to victory," he said. "We are telling the citizens of Tehran: 'Evacuate' — and we are taking action." Iranian media said Iran was preparing for the "largest and most intense missile attack" yet against Israel, including against military and intelligence targets.
Israel launched its air strikes with a surprise attack that killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran's military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists. It said it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in the coming days. Israel said it hit Iranian F-14 fighter planes at Tehran airport, and its airstrikes have also put at least two of Iran's three operating uranium enrichment plants out of action. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC it was very likely all the roughly 15,000 centrifuges operating at Iran's biggest uranium enrichment plant in Natanz were badly damaged or destroyed because of a power cut caused by an Israeli strike. There had been very limited or no damage at the separate Fordow plant, he said.
Iran's retaliation is the first time in decades of proxy conflict that missiles fired from Iran have pierced Israeli defences in significant numbers and killed Israelis in their homes. Iran says more than 224 Iranians have been killed, most of them civilians. The media published images of wounded children, women, and the elderly from cities across the country. State TV broadcast scenes of collapsed presidential buildings, burned-out cars, and shattered streets in Tehran. Many residents were trying to flee the capital, describing queues for petrol and bank machines that were out of cash. "I am desperate. My two children are scared and cannot sleep at night because of the sound of air defence and attacks, explosions. But we have nowhere to go. We hid under our dining table," Gholamreza Mohammadi, 48, a civil servant, told Reuters by phone from Tehran. In Israel, 24 people have been killed so far in Iran's missile attacks, all of them civilians. Round-the-clock television images showed rescuers working in the ruins of flattened homes. "It's terrifying because it's so unknown," said Guydo Tetelbaum, 31, a chef in Tel Aviv who was in his apartment when the alerts came in.