U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday posted an ominous message calling for the immediate evacuation of the Iranian capital of Tehran while he’s in Canada attending the G7 summit.
Trump had said more than once during the day that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. He emphasized that again on his social media site, writing “IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”
He said Iran should have agreed to the “deal” he told them to sign to prevent what he called “a shame, and waste of human life,” referring to Israel’s attacks in recent days.
Trump ended the post with, “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Israel on Monday had warned about 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate ahead of airstrikes. Israeli forces then struck Iran’s state-run television station during a live broadcast. Israel has been hitting Iran with airstrikes and drones throughout the day, while Iran fired a pre-dawn wave of missiles at Israel that killed at least eight people.
The tit-for-tat strikes began when Israel attacked Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, and the fighting has raised fears of a wider, more dangerous regional war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Monday that the strikes have set Iran’s nuclear program back “years” and said he is in touch daily with Trump.