US President Donald Trump will return early to Washington from the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada to attend what the White House called many "important matters," shortly after he used social media to urge residents of Tehran to leave the city immediately.
"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!"
The Israeli military earlier issued a notice urging residents of one district of Tehran to evacuate.
The warnings come as Israel ramps up attacks in Iran, which it says are aimed at destroying the country’s nuclear facilities.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed on June 17 to have killed Ali Shadmani, who had just been appointed as the head of the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Central Headquarters to replace Gholam Ali Rashid, who was killed in an Israeli attack on June 13. Iran has not commented on the IDF's claim.
The headquarters is responsible for operational command and control and its leader serves as the deputy commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces.
Trump told reporters before his decision to leave early was announced: "As soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something. But I have to leave here."
Trump did not elaborate, but White House spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said later on X that US forces in the Middle East remain in a "defensive posture, and that has not changed."
Before Trump departed the summit all seven leaders signed a joint statement stressing "the importance of the protection of civilians" as the growing attacks kill civilians on both sides.
The leaders of the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States -- also stated their conviction that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon" and Israel "has a right to defend itself."
The statement expressed hopes that a resolution of the Iranian crisis "leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a cease-fire in Gaza."
Questions have been raised about possible US involvement in the attacks on Iran since Israel launched the first wave of bombardments on June 13. The US president has repeatedly said the United States was not involved in initial strikes and declined to say if Washington would participate.
Asked what it would take for the US to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said, “I don’t want to talk about that.“
Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able to destroy the Fordow uranium enrichment facility, which is buried deep underground about 200 kilometers south of Tehran. Israel would need the a US bunker-busting bomb, which can only be delivered by the US military's B-2 stealth bomber, to eliminate it, military experts quoted in US media reports have said.
Trump’s abrupt departure from the summit, which is scheduled to conclude on June 17, appears to mean he will miss a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been invited to take part in the summit by host country Canada.
That meeting might have been another contentious one between the two men after Trump on June 16 said the former Group of Eight had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.
Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump called that move a “big mistake," adding he believes Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Putin not been ejected.
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin speaks to me. He doesn't speak to anybody else.... He's not a happy person about it. I can tell you that he basically doesn't even speak to the people that threw him out, and I agree with him," Trump said.
Though Trump stopped short of saying Russia should be reinstated in the group, his comments raised doubts about how much Zelenskyy might have achieved at the meeting.
The leaders of European nations in the G7 had said before the summit began that they wanted to persuade Trump to back tougher sanctions on Moscow.
France's Emmanuel Macron said given the objective to get a cease-fire in Middle East, Trump's departure from the G7 is positive, noting that the Americans have made an offer to meet with Iranians.
"If the United States can achieve a cease-fire, that's a very good thing," Macron told reporters.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Trump is still hoping for a resolution amid speculation that the reason Trump is returning is related to US military involvement.
“We’re strong. We’re prepared. We’re defensive, and President Trump hopes there can be peace,” Hegseth said on Fox News.
He described the US military posture in the region as defensive and vigilant.
“We’ve messaged consistently from the beginning that we are in the region to defend our people and our assets,” he said.
