President Donald Trump called for the evacuation of Iran’s capital Tehran on Monday, hours after he urged the country’s leadership to sign a deal to limit its nuclear program and Israel signaled strikes would continue.
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump wrote in a social media post from a Group of Seven leaders’ summit in Alberta, Canada. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
It wasn’t clear what Trump was referring to but hours earlier at the meeting, Trump had said Iran wanted to make a deal, and “as soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something.” He didn’t give any more details.
Israeli officials have said their forces have taken control over much of the Iranian airspace and severely damaged key facilities used in its missile and nuclear programs since the assault was launched Friday, sparking fears of widening conflict in the Middle East.
Earlier Monday, Israel had warned one Tehran district to evacuate in anticipation of a fourth day of strikes, and video footage has shown massive traffic jams as people seek to escape the city.
“They want to stop and continue producing the weapons of death, both the nuclear weapons that threaten our existence and the ballistic missiles, but we are committed to destroying these two threats,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference Monday, before Trump’s latest comments. “If that can be achieved in another way, please – but we gave it a chance for 60 days,” he added, referring to the period that ended with Israel’s attacks Friday.
With assistance from Courtney McBride, Joe Mathieu and Alberto Nardelli.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.