Iranians ‘told to evacuate’ as Israel steps up attacks on Tehran

Israel appears to be expanding its air strikes on Iran’s capital, five days after it launched a surprise attack on its foe’s military and nuclear programme.

The attacks on Tuesday targeting Tehran, as well as locations Israel branded military bases in western Iran, came as United States President Donald Trump posted an ominous message warning residents of the capital to evacuate.

“Iran can not have a nuclear weapon,” Trump wrote on Monday as he returned to Washington early from a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada. “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

Earlier, the Israeli military had called for some 330,000 residents of a neighbourhood in Tehran to evacuate.

Iran’s capital is one of the largest cities in the Middle East. Its population of about 10 million people is roughly equivalent to that of Israel. People have been fleeing since the hostilities began.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile programme is necessary to prevent its longtime adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people since Friday.

Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded.

The Israeli military said Iran launched a new barrage of missiles on Tuesday, and explosions could be heard in northern Israel.