President Trump pulled out of the G7 meeting a day early on Monday night, saying he wanted to return to Washington to focus on the Middle East shortly after posting a warning for Tehran to evacuate.
Trump’s abrupt departure marks a dramatic rejection of efforts by the world’s richest democracies to come together to push for de-escalation in the wars in Iran and Ukraine.
He leaves behind a group of western leaders who were hoping Trump could have been persuaded to join them in putting diplomatic pressure on Israel as well as applying sanctions on Russia to force it to accept a ceasefire with Ukraine. His departure after the “family photo” of leaders in Canada means he will not have the bilateral meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine that was expected to be held on Tuesday.
“President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer,” wrote Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary. “Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with heads of state.”
The tone of his posts on Truth Social suggested that the US president was strongly supportive of Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran, as he hit back at those in his own party calling on him not to involve the US any deeper in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
“AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including the fact that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump posted.
Trump ordered that the National Security Council convene in the White House situation room for his return to Washington, about a four-hour flight away from Calgary, according to a report on Fox News.
Israel struck the Iranian state television building on Monday
GETTY IMAGES
Shortly before Trump’s departure was announced, Iran’s foreign ministry rejected his earlier call for Tehran to return to talks, saying it was not possible to negotiate under fire from Israel. This led to an ominous post from Trump, declaring that “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’s departure highlights the split in the west after Sir Keir Starmer and European allies spent the day attempting to persuade the US to sign up to a joint position. At a meeting with the prime minister Trump said “I have to leave here” to take action on the Middle East.
Asked if he wanted to see regime change in Tehran, Trump said: “I want to see no nuclear weapon in Iran. And we’re well on our way to making sure that happens.”
President Macron of France put a positive interpretation on Trump’s departure, saying the US president had made a proposal for a ceasefire in the Middle East. “There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions,” Macron told reporters. “We have to see now whether the sides will follow.”
Israel widened its bombing offensive against Iran on Monday, striking the state television building in Tehran. Flames leapt from the television building in north Tehran after the strike, which cut programmes just as a newsreader was lambasting Israel live on air.
Iranian channels said a new salvo of missiles and drones had been launched towards Israel on Monday night. The regime’s Revolutionary Guards threatened “the largest and most intense missile attack in history on Israeli soil” in retaliation. They urged people in Tel Aviv to flee.
But privately, Tehran was said to be asking America’s allies in the Middle East to persuade President Trump to use his influence on Israel to sign a ceasefire.
In Canada, Starmer was leading calls for “de-escalating” the war. But though No 10 said it was “premature” to talk of a divided G7, Trump was holding out against signing a joint document and Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, gave cold comfort both to Iranians and allies hoping to prevent the war spinning out of control.
Asked on American television about reports that Iran was seeking new talks through intermediaries, Trump said: “I’m not surprised. I mean, they want to continue to have these fake talks in which they lie, they cheat, they string the US along…
“They want to continue to create existential threats against Israel while they’re talking. That’s not going to happen.”
Later on Monday he wrote on Truth Social that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran”.
During a fourth day of attacks by both sides, Tehran’s civilian population began to take evasive action. Traffic jams were reported on routes out of the city after residents paid heed to growing Israeli warnings of continued and intensifying attacks.
They followed specific threats by Israeli leaders toward a part of north Tehran that is home to many government buildings and diplomatic compounds, as well as state television channels.
“In the coming hours, the Israel Defence Forces will operate in the area, as it has in recent days throughout Tehran, to strike military infrastructure of the Iranian regime,” the IDF Persian-language social media feed said.
The raid on state television was caught live on air. A female newsreader was addressing the camera when a loud explosion went off and smoke filled the newsroom. Part of its ceiling collapsed and there was shouting in the background.
Shortly after, broadcasts resumed, but a female employee of the Islamic Republic of Iran news network was later confirmed to have died in the attack.
Civilians have begun to flee Tehran. Iran says 224 people have been killed in Israeli strikes
ATTA KENARE/AFP
“The Zionist regime, the enemy of the Iranian nation, minutes ago conducted a military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran news network,” Hassan Abedini, a media official, said. “The regime was unaware of the fact that the voice of the Islamic revolution and the great Iran will not be silenced with a military operation.”
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After midnight local time, air raid alerts then warned Israelis to take shelter due to Iranian reprisal attacks, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The strikes will raise questions over the focus of the continuing military operation, which Israeli leaders have insisted is not aimed at regime change. Netanyahu, in the same interview, refused to rule out directly targeting the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying it would “end the conflict”.
Later, in a video message, he said Israel was “changing the face of the Middle East” through its strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets, adding: “We are eliminating them, one after the other.”
Iran’s foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi, said Israel’s strikes against his country in the midst of nuclear negotiations with the United States “deal a blow” to diplomacy. Araghchi made the comments during a call on Monday with his French, British, and German counterparts.
Raphael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the main external monitor of Iran’s nuclear programme, said there had been no signs of damage to the nuclear facilities at one of Iran’s key sites, Fordow, which are buried deep underground.
In a statement, he confirmed damage to the above-ground facilities at Natanz, the second main site, and to uranium conversion plants at Isfahan, which are key for converting uranium for enrichment and then weaponisation. But there was also no sign of an attack on Natanz’s underground facilities. He said that radiation levels appeared “normal”.
Iran has retaliated by firing volleys of missiles at Israel. Israeli officials admit that some 5 to 10 per cent are penetrating the country’s “Iron Dome” system and other defences and striking targets, including civilian ones.
Iranian missiles hit Tel Aviv, above, Haifa, below, and other cities. Twenty-four people have been killed in Israel
BAZ RATNER/AP
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
As of Monday lunchtime, 24 Israelis had been killed in Iranian strikes since Friday. Iran’s health ministry increased its official death toll from Israeli attacks to 224, with more than 1,200 wounded.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman called the Israeli attack on the television centre a “war crime” and demanded the UN security council intervene.
Diplomatic sources said that Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia had appealed to Washington to press Israel to agree to a ceasefire and to resume talks with Tehran towards a nuclear deal.
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At the G7 summit in Alberta, Trump argued for the resumption of US talks with Iran, but has put the onus on Tehran to make concessions. Iran wants a ceasefire first, and has given no indication it is giving up its bottom line of continued uranium enrichment. “They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Trump said.
Starmer said: “I do think there’s a consensus for de-escalation. Obviously, what we need to do today is to bring that together and to be clear about how it is to be brought about. There must be de-escalation. That will be the central focus of much of the discussion.”
