Trump leaves G7 early as Iran and Israel continue to exchange fire
Israel and Iran have exchanged missile barrages and threats of war for the fifth consecutive night, despite calls for de-escalation from major powers. Donald Trump called for people to immediately evacuate Tehran as he left the G7 summit in Canada early.
The two countries again activated their air defence systems during the night. Tehran vowed to bomb Israel for “as long as it takes” to end the offensive launched on Friday with the stated aim of preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims to be “changing the face of the Middle East” with the offensive, which has targeted hundreds of military and nuclear sites, killed several high-ranking officials and briefly interrupted live broadcasts on Iranian national television.
Air raid sirens sounded twice at dawn on Tuesday in several parts of Israel, particularly in the north, after the army announced that it had “identified missiles launched from Iran towards the territory of the State of Israel”. In both cases, residents were allowed to leave the shelters a few moments later.
“Everyone should evacuate Tehran immediately,” said Trump, who left the G7 summit in Canada early on Monday evening, after saying that an agreement could be reached.
“If the United States can achieve a ceasefire, that would be a very good thing,” said French president Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the summit. “At this stage, objectively speaking, I have no reason to believe that things will change in the coming hours.”
His spokesperson said on X that Trump had returned to Washington after the leaders' dinner "because of what's going on in the Middle East".
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday morning, however, Trump said Macron was “wrong” to say he was returning to Washington to engage in ceasefire talks.
“He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington,” he said. “But it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.” He did not elaborate, but ended the post with “Stay Tuned!”
Trump has recently resumed negotiations with Tehran on Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran, which denies wanting to build a nuclear weapon and defends its right to enrich uranium to develop a civilian nuclear programme, withdrew from the talks because of the Israeli attacks.
According to the office of Netanyahu, Iran has killed at least 24 people since Friday. On the Iranian side, Israeli strikes targeting hundreds of military and nuclear sites have killed at least 224 people and wounded more than 1,000 since Friday, according to an official toll released on Sunday.
"Iran can never have a nuclear weapon"
Without calling for an immediate end to hostilities, as Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have done, the G7 leaders issued a joint statement calling for the protection of civilians, affirming Israel’s right to defend itself.
“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” the statement added and said the G7 was “clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon”.
China has urged its citizens to leave Israel as soon as possible, while the US announced it was deploying “additional resources” to the Middle East to strengthen its “defensive posture”, according to Defence secretary Peter Hegseth.
People at the site of an Iranian missile attack in central Tel Aviv which left several destroyed buildings, 16 June 2025 © PHOTO MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP
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