Updated on June 16, 2025, at 9:56 pm EST
President Trump on Monday appeared to threaten Iran, writing on his Truth Social account that Iran should have signed a “deal” and calling for the “immediate” evacuation of the Iranian capital of Tehran, a city of about 10 million people.
“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!” the president wrote.
He made the threat while attending the G7 summit in Canada. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said after Trump’s post that the president would be leaving the summit “because of what’s going on in the Middle East.” According to media reports, the president ordered his National Security Council to convene in the Situation Room at the White House for an emergency meeting.
US officials have denied rumors that the US began striking Iran and have said that the US remains in a “defensive posture” in the Middle East.
Trump’s post came after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that he ordered the deployment of additional US capabilities to the Middle East. US officials confirmed that a massive deployment of tanker aircraft was related to the Israel-Iran war, and the US also redirected a second aircraft carrier to the region.
Sources familiar with the matter have told Antiwar.com Editorial Director Scott Horton that the Trump administration is poised to enter Israel’s aggressive war against Iran directly by launching airstrikes, which will almost certainly provoke attacks on US bases in the region.
Israel started bombing Iran on Friday, two days before the US and Iran were due to hold another round of nuclear negotiations. Trump had been demanding Iran eliminate its nuclear weapons program, which was a non-starter for Tehran. Despite the apparent impasse, Iran was set to present a counter-proposal to the US, but the talks were canceled after Israel launched its war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the war under the pretext of stopping Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, but it has been the consensus of the US Intelligence Community that there was no evidence Tehran was working toward a nuclear weapon.
