“It looks like no one is living in this city,” one resident told The Associated Press by phone.
Residents of Iran's capital were seen leaving the city and shops and the historic Grand Bazaar were closed Tuesday — the fifth day of the intensifying conflict started by Israel — hours after U.S. President Donald Trump urged the immediate evacuation of Tehran in an ominous social media post.
Iranian authorities insist everything is under control and no guidance has been issued, even as witnesses in Tehran say sirens blare every few hours and people rush for shelter amid ongoing Israeli attacks. On the roads out of Tehran to the west, traffic stood bumper to bumper, and long lines also could be seen at gas stations.
The streets of the Iranian capital are nearly deserted, police are using loudspeakers to tell people to stay indoors, and emergency travel is the only exception, according to one resident, an Afghan store worker.
President Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”
In the span of about eight hours Monday, Trump went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained “achievable” to urging Tehran’s 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut his visit to the international G7 summit short to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team.
Trump expressed frustration with Iranian leaders for failing to reach an agreement, adding that he wants “a real end” to the conflict and a “complete give-up” of Tehran’s nuclear program.
Britain’s prime minister says he feels confident Trump won’t embroil US in Israel-Iran conflict
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he’s confident Trump isn’t about to take the U.S. into the Israel-Iran conflict, despite the president’s early departure from a G7 summit to deal with the escalating crisis.
Starmer told reporters at the summit Tuesday that “I don’t think anything that the president said either here or elsewhere suggests that” the U.S. will get involved. That comes after Trump on social media urged the 9.5 million residents of Tehran to leave.
Starmer pointed to a statement issued late Monday by all G7 leaders, including Trump, calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”
“Throughout the dinner yesterday I was sitting right next to President Trump, so I’ve no doubt, in my mind, the level of agreement there was in relation to the words that were then issued immediately after that,” Starmer said.
Trump shares Ambassador Huckabee’s lengthy text message of encouragement
On his social media site, Trump shared a screenshot of the text from Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Huckabee’s also a Baptist minister and a former Arkansas governor.
He opens by referencing last year’s attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania, saying Trump was spared by God to be the “most consequential President in a century – maybe ever.”
Huckabee says no president in his lifetime “has been in a position like yours. Not since Truman in 1945.” That’s a reference to President Harry Truman’s decision to drop an atomic bomb on Japan during World War II.
Trump returned to Washington early Tuesday after leaving an international summit a day ahead of schedule because of the Israel-Iran conflict.
“You did not seek this moment. This moment sought YOU!” Huckabee wrote, adding, “It is my honor to serve you!”