Donald Trump urges Tehran evacuation as Iran-Israel conflict enters fifth day
Israel and Iran attacked each other for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, and US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to evacuate Tehran, citing what he said was the country's rejection of a deal to curb nuclear weapons development.
World leaders meeting at the Group of Seven summit in Canada called for a de-escalation of the worst-ever conflict between the regional foes, saying Iran must never have a nuclear weapon while affirming Israel's right to defend itself.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump, who was leaving the summit a day early due to the Middle East situation, had proposed a ceasefire for Iran and Israel.
"There is an offer that has been made, especially to have a ceasefire and to initiate broader discussions. And I think this is a very good thing," Macron told reporters. "So now we need to see what the stakeholders will do."
Trump has repeatedly urged Iran to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.
US President Donald Trump speaking to the media at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. Picture date: Monday June 16, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Suzanne Plunkett/PA Wire
"Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform on Monday.
Axios reported the White House is discussing with Iran the possibility of a meeting this week between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Reuters couldn't immediately verify details of the Axios report.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News that Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran, while adding the US would defend its assets in the region.
Iranian media reported explosions and heavy air defence fire in Tehran early on Tuesday, with smoke rising in the city's east after an explosion of suspected Israeli projectiles. Air defences were activated also in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320km away, the Asriran news website reported.
Late on Monday, Israel said it hit Iran's broadcasting authority, and footage showed a newsreader hurrying from her seat as a blast struck. Iranian state television said the strike killed two people.
In Israel, air raid sirens wailed in Tel Aviv after midnight but there were no reports of missile strikes.
Iranian officials have reported 224 deaths, mostly civilians, in five days, while Israel said 24 civilians had been killed. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said nearly 3,000 Israelis had been evacuated due to damage from Iranian strikes.
Israeli border police officers walk at the entrance of a residential building hit by a missile launched from Iran, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
According to sources, Tehran has asked Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to urge Trump to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an immediate ceasefire. In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, according to two Iranian and three regional sources.
"If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.
Oil prices rallied more than 2% early in Asia on Tuesday after Trump's evacuation warning, reversing losses on Monday amid reports that Iran was seeking an end to hostilities.
The Iran-Israel air war - the biggest battle ever between the two longtime enemies - escalated on Monday with Israel targeting Iran's state broadcaster and uranium enrichment facilities.
The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the BBC that the Natanz plant sustained extensive damage, likely destroying 15,000 centrifuges, while Iran's Fordow plant remained largely intact.
Talks between the United States and Iran, hosted by Oman, had been scheduled for June 15 but were scrapped, with Tehran saying it could not negotiate while under attack.
Israel launched its air war with a surprise attack that has killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran's military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists. It says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in the coming days.
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Irish Independent
36 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
‘Match your words with actions' – Paul Murphy urges Simon Harris to do more for Palestinians after being detained in Egypt
On arrival in Dublin Airport with a group of around ten others, he called on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to match his words of criticism of Israel with actions. Last week, Mr Murphy and members of an activist group had their passports taken and were held after attempting to walk to Rafah as part of a protest march highlighting the blockage of aid into Gaza. He was then detained for a second time in Cairo on Monday when he went to a police station to retrieve his mobile phone, which was being held by authorities. 'The main thing I'm asking Simon Harris to do, and we're asking Simon Harris to do, is not to do more for us - it's to match his strong words of criticism of Israel with actions,' he said. "To fully implement the Occupied Territories Bill, to stop the overflights of weapons going through our airspace, and to stop our Central Bank authorising the sale of Israeli bonds in the European Union,' he said. Surrounded by group members with Irish and Palestinian flags, Deputy Murphy said they had 'tremendous support from the Egyptian people'. 'It's clear that the Egyptian people are very, very supportive of Palestine. Obviously, we're disappointed with the stance that the Egyptian State took,' he said. "I'm fine. All the Irish people are fine. There are still some non-Irish people who are detained out there, so we're hopeful that they're released as soon as possible and we have to be kind of mindful of the fact that they're potentially still in detention and there's other Irish people who want to come home, in terms of the comments we make about Egypt.' Reacting to criticism from Independent Ireland party leader TD Michael Collins, who branded his trip to Egypt a 'march for publicity', Deputy Murphy people can make their own judgements. 'First of all, this is not my stunt at all. This is 4,000 people that were participating. I was actually a late participant in joining it. This is probably the biggest global coordinated march for Palestine that we have seen. And even though we didn't reach Rafah, we think we did succeed in highlighting what's happening,' he explained. 'Just yesterday 38 people were killed while queuing for aid, and this has become a pattern now, over 300 people in the last three weeks. 'I left on Thursday. I was in the Dáil on Thursday morning. I'm back today, back for the Dáil, today. I think most people in this country want politicians to do everything they can to stop this genocide. This is a contribution that I felt that I could make in supporting this people-powered movement that we have.' Deputy Murphy said the next focus now is on a meeting in Brussels next week. "We definitely recognise that this phase of the global March to Gaza is finished. We accept that we will not be reaching Rafah, and those who remain there will not be reaching Rafah. 'There's a meeting in Brussels next week when Foreign Affairs Ministers are meeting with the Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs. We think that's horrendous in the context of the genocide that's been going on for 20 months. 'I think it's horrendous that Ursula von der Leyen is still talking about Israel's right to defend itself and blaming others for instability in the Middle East, considering Israel's ongoing genocide and then starting a war effectively with Iran. So that's our next focal point." Meanwhile, Mr Collins questioned what was the objective of the trip and said he would have advised Mr Murphy against travelling if he was a member of Independent Ireland. Mr Collins said it is 'Dáil time' and TDs are supposed to be working. He also questioned why Mr Murphy put himself in danger. 'As party leader, if one of my TDs came to me and said they wanted to go travelling. First of all, I'd say, it's Dáil time and it's work time, you're supposed to tend to your duties,' said Mr Collins at Leinster House. 'If it's a holiday during August or something, that's their own business. But certainly, why put yourself in danger? Why put other people in danger, because you are in a position of responsibility and you have to advise people of the dangers you're putting people in. I felt there was a danger and there was a danger for others. 'I think it was more done on the basis of publicity than maybe delivery. And delivery is for the people that is inside here, where democracy is held, where people are held to order, where we can speak our minds and he's well able to speak his mind [in the Dáil]. "It's his decision but it's a decision I'd question myself if it was within my party.' Cork TD Richard O'Donoghue said he hopes Mr Murphy is well and safe. 'You can protest, you can do all the same things of what he wanted to achieve, here. But to go over there and to put your life and other lives at risk, says to me you didn't think about the people you were leaving here behind you,' said Mr O'Donoghue. Meanwhile, Labour TD Duncan Smith said he would not criticise anybody who is trying to highlight the genocide in Gaza. 'I'm not going to be criticising any politician or citizen of this country or others who are doing what they believe they can to highlight what's going on in Gaza.' Mr Murphy has confirmed no Irish citizens are now under detention in Egypt. 'No other Irish citizens are still detained, thankfully. Again, there are many Irish citizens who are not leaving today, will still be there for a period of time and I'm kind of conscious about their safety and not putting them in in any jeopardy,' Mr Murphy told RTÉ's Morning Ireland. Mr Murphy said his second detention was a 'slow bureaucratic process' and things were taking a long time to resolve. 'But then, I asked to leave and was told that I couldn't leave and the whole time they had my passport. It became clear that I was being detained, as unfortunately hundreds of others have been detained in Egypt, many people deported.' He said his experience in Egypt 'pales into insignificance compared to what's happening in Gaza'. 'Just yesterday, 38 Palestinians were killed while queuing for aid. There's now over 300 Palestinians have been killed in those circumstances in the last three weeks,' he said. 'And the purpose of our global march to Gaza, which involved over 4,000 people coming here to Egypt from over 60 countries, was really to highlight the forced starvation that is happening and to call for a lifting of the blockade and allowing aid to flow.' Mr Murphy said he was held for around nine hours when he was detained for a second time and due to the slow nature of the process, it was unclear at first whether he was detained or not. It then became clear to him that he had been detained again because when he asked to leave the police station, he was told he was not allowed to. 'From our perspective, I mean we came here, the 4,000 people to try to march to Rafah in order to highlight what is happening in Gaza. 'Obviously, we're disappointed that we didn't get to Rafah, but we have had probably the largest international people-powered coalition for Palestine in a very, very long time. 'I think we did raise awareness about what is happening. And so, in the context of the severe Egyptian repression that is taking place, I'm conscious that look, there's still people in detention. There's still many, many people who won't be flying home.' While there will not be another attempt to enter Rafah, Mr Murphy said activists will now turn their attention to events like a planned meeting between European foreign ministers and the Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa'ar in Brussels next week. 'For us, the main pressure we need to have is on Israel, to stop what it's doing in Gaza and on our own Government to stop their complicity. 'Obviously, many western governments and many of the people over there are coming from countries where the governments are actively arming and funding Israel.'
The Journal
43 minutes ago
- The Journal
European 'empty rhetoric' is not enough to stop Israel's 'ethnic cleansing' of Gaza, MSF says
THE EUROPEAN UNION has the political, economic, and diplomatic means to stop Israel's 'calculated evisceration of the very systems that sustain life' in Gaza, and 'empty rhetoric' is not enough. That's what European government leaders have been told in an open letter written by the heads of the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), eleven of whose staff members have been killed during the 20 months of war on the besieged Palestinian territory. Dr Christos Christou, MSF International's president and Christopher Lockyear, the NGO's secretary general, described Israel's campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza as 'ethnic cleansing, wrapped in the rhetoric of security defence'. 'On a daily basis, MSF teams witness patterns consistent with genocide through deliberate actions by Israeli forces – including mass killings, the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, and blockades choking off access to food, water, medicines, and other essential humanitarian supplies,' they wrote. Israel is systematically destroying the conditions necessary for Palestinian life. This pattern of violence and disregard for international humanitarian law, the said, 'shows that this war run by Israel in Gaza is against Palestinians as a whole'. Israel stands accused of committing genocide in Gaza in a case taken by South Africa at the International Criminal Court. It has also been accused of genocide by NGOs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also described Israel's actions in Gaza as genocidal. Despite these allegations, European support for Israel has remained steadfast, with some exceptions. Last month, some European states closely allied with Israel openly criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war and the ongoing military operations and settlement expansions in the occupied West Bank. That tone has since shifted back to support for Israel in the wake of its attack against Iran last Friday, which has also drawn attention away from the plight of the people of Gaza. Weaponising aid MSF pointed to the spate of massacres that have been committed by Israeli forces while hungry people have been waiting for humanitarian aid handed out by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation(GHF), an organisation the UN and NGOs refuse to work with. Advertisement 'The GHF launched its activities on 27 May, as part of the US-Israeli plan that instrumentalises aid,' the letter reads. 'Since then, hundreds of Palestinians have been treated in hospitals, and scores have been killed, after being shot at these aid distribution sites while waiting to receive basic necessities for survival. 'Humanitarian aid is being weaponised. It is being used as leverage to forcibly displace people, to meet military objectives, or blocked entirely. Aid is not a bargaining chip. It is a lifeline. 'Denying it is collective punishment – a war crime.' Yesterday, Israeli forces killed 34 people near a GHF distribution site. Today, Israeli forces killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 200 while they waited to get flour from a UN site. The war in Gaza is becoming ever more deadly and devastating. In what's become a macabre daily routine, more desperately hungry people were gunned down today, as they tried to collect food aid from the new US and Israeli backed distribution centre. — Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 16, 2025 'Empty rhetoric' 'The European Union and European governments have the political, economic, and diplomatic means capable of exerting real pressure on Israel to stop this assault and open Gaza's border crossings to unhindered humanitarian aid,' the MSF letter said. 'These are not theoretical instruments; they can be effectively mobilised in defence of international law and to protect civilians. The letter noted the recent rebukes of Israel by European leaders. 'Yet these words ring hollow, as they fail to take the substantive action needed to stop the slaughter, and hypocritically continue to provide weapons to Israel that kill, burn, or permanently disable the people who end up in our hospitals. This must stop.' MSF said the words and actions of European leaders are 'a test of your credibility and leadership'. Now is a moment that will define your legacy and determine whether laws meant to protect civilians in war retain any meaning at all. 'It requires political courage, legal responsibility, and moral commitment. The scale of suffering in Gaza demands more than your empty rhetoric. 'Every delay, every equivocation, and every policy that permits the machinery of devastation to roll forward with impunity is an act of complicity.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Paul Murphy returns to Dublin following detention in Egypt
Paul Murphy has encouraged the Irish people to keep campaigning for an end to the "genocide" in Gaza after arriving back from Egypt. The People Before Profit TD was greeted by his wife and young child in Dublin Airport after being released from detention in Cairo. He had his passport and phone taken by officials after attempting to march to the Rafah border with thousands of other protesters from across the world. Speaking in Dublin on Tuesday, Mr Murphy demanded that Tánaiste Simon Harris, who made contact with him on Sunday morning as efforts continued to assist Irish campaigners who were detained, to "match his strong words of criticism of Israel with action" including the full implementation of the Occupied Territories Bill and a ban on the facilitation of Israeli war bonds. Mr Murphy said he would be willing to go back again but conceded that a march to the Rafah border will not be possible at this stage and instead campaigners will now focus their attention on an EU meeting in Brussels next week, which will also be attended by the Israeli foreign minister. "We've had tremendous support from the Egyptian people. It's clear that the Egyptian people are very, very supportive of Palestine. Obviously, we're disappointed with the stance that the Egyptian state took. "I'm fine, all the Irish people are fine, there are still some people, non-Irish people, who are detained out there, so we're hopeful that they're released as soon as possible. We have to be kind of mindful with the fact that they're potentially still in detention, and there's other Irish people who want to come home, in terms of the comments we make about Egypt," Mr Murphy said. "But in any case, our focus isn't on ourselves and any inconveniences that we suffered pale into insignificance." He added that it was not about him and that 4,000 people had travelled to Egypt in an attempt to reach the border and highlight the death and starvation being inflicted on the people of Gaza. "This is probably the biggest global coordinated march for Palestine that we have seen. And even though we didn't reach Rafah, we did succeed in highlighting what's happening. Just yesterday, 38 people were killed while queuing for aid, that's a pattern now." Defending his decision to travel, Mr Murphy said: "I left on Thursday, I was in the Dáil on Thursday morning. I'm back today, back for the Dáil today. I think my constituents and most people in this country want politicians to do everything they can to stop this genocide."
