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Israel orders 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate while Trump issues ominous warning

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Israel orders 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate while Trump issues ominous warning
News

News

Israel orders 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate while Trump issues ominous warning

2025-06-17 11:09 Last Updated At:11:20

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate the middle of Iran's capital as Israel’s air campaign on Tehran appeared to broaden on the fourth day of an intensifying conflict.

An Iranian television anchor fled her studio during a live broadcast as bombs fell on the headquarters of the country's state-run TV station.

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Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Residents look at the site where an Iranian missile struck in, Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Residents look at the site where an Iranian missile struck in, Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke billows after an Iranian missile struck an oil refinery in Haifa, northern Israel, early Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke billows after an Iranian missile struck an oil refinery in Haifa, northern Israel, early Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A damaged apartment is seen near the site where an Iranian missile struck in Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A damaged apartment is seen near the site where an Iranian missile struck in Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An injured man is helped to leave the scene after an explosion in downtown Tehran, amid Israel's three-day campaign of strikes against Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Amir Kholousi/ISNA)

An injured man is helped to leave the scene after an explosion in downtown Tehran, amid Israel's three-day campaign of strikes against Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Amir Kholousi/ISNA)

Women mourn over the body of Mohammadi Javad Naseri, who was reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matin Hashemi)

Women mourn over the body of Mohammadi Javad Naseri, who was reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matin Hashemi)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

U.S. President Donald Trump posted an ominous message on his social media site later Monday calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran.

“IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump wrote, adding that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on social media shortly after Trump’s post that he was returning from the G7 summit in Canada a day early due to the intensifying conflict between.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli strikes have set Iran’s nuclear program back a “very, very long time," and told reporters he is in daily touch with Trump.

“The regime is very weak,” he added.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists, 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 maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed that Tehran has not had an organized effort to pursue a nuclear weapon since 2003. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should it choose to do so.

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 injured.

The back-and-forth has raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval.

Earlier Monday, Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that houses the country’s state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The city, one of the region's largest, is home to around 9.5 million people.

Israel's military has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes.

State-run television abruptly stopped a live broadcast after the station was hit, according to Iran’s state-run news agency. While on the air, an Iranian state television reporter said the studio was filling with dust after “the sound of aggression against the homeland.” Suddenly, an explosion occurred, cutting the screen behind her as she hurried off camera.

The broadcast quickly switched to prerecorded programs. The station later said its building was hit by four bombs.

An anchor said on air that a few colleagues had been hurt, but their families should not be worried. The network said its live programs were transferred to another studio.

Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Monday that his country's forces had "achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies.”

The military said it destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran’s total, as well as two F-14 planes that Iran used to target Israeli aircraft and multiple launchers just before they launched ballistic missiles towards Israel.

Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

The Israeli strikes “amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat,” Defrin said.

One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, with its blast waves causing minor damage, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. He added that no American personnel were injured.

Powerful explosions rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city.

Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said Iranian missiles hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments.

Iranian missiles also hit an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa for the second night in a row. The early morning strike killed three workers, ignited a significant fire and damaged a building, Israel’s fire and rescue services said. The workers were sheltering in the building’s safe room when the impact caused a stairwell to collapse, trapping them inside.

Firefighters rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue them, but the three died before rescuers could reach them.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to make a veiled outreach Monday for the U.S. to step in and negotiate an end to hostilities between Israel and Iran.

In a post on X, Araghchi wrote that if Trump is "genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential.”

“It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu,” Iran’s top diplomat wrote. “That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”

The message to Washington was sent as the latest talks between the U.S. and Iran were canceled over the weekend after Israel targeted key military and political officials in Tehran.

On Sunday, Araghchi said that Iran will stop its strikes if Israel does the same.

The conflict has also forced most countries in the Middle East to close their airspace. Dozens of airports have stopped all flights or severely reduced operations, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and others unable to flee the conflict or travel home.

Health authorities reported that 1,277 people were wounded in Iran. Iranians also reported fuel rationing.

Rights groups such as the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group Human Rights Activists have suggested that the Iranian government’s death toll is a significant undercount. The group says it has documented more than 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians.

Ahead of Israel's initial attack, its Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran. Since then, Iran has reportedly detained several people and hanged one on suspicion of espionage.

Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv; Isaac Scharf and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Farnoush Amiri in New York; Darlene Superville in Washington and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Residents look at the site where an Iranian missile struck in, Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Residents look at the site where an Iranian missile struck in, Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke billows after an Iranian missile struck an oil refinery in Haifa, northern Israel, early Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke billows after an Iranian missile struck an oil refinery in Haifa, northern Israel, early Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A damaged apartment is seen near the site where an Iranian missile struck in Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A damaged apartment is seen near the site where an Iranian missile struck in Haifa, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An injured man is helped to leave the scene after an explosion in downtown Tehran, amid Israel's three-day campaign of strikes against Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Amir Kholousi/ISNA)

An injured man is helped to leave the scene after an explosion in downtown Tehran, amid Israel's three-day campaign of strikes against Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Amir Kholousi/ISNA)

Women mourn over the body of Mohammadi Javad Naseri, who was reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matin Hashemi)

Women mourn over the body of Mohammadi Javad Naseri, who was reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Matin Hashemi)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Next Article

Bangladesh keeps series alive with 83-run win against Sri Lanka in 2nd T20

2025-07-14 01:25 Last Updated At:01:31

DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka was skittled for 94 in 15.2 overs as Bangladesh won the second Twenty20 by 83 runs to level the three-match series at 1-1 on Sunday.

It was Bangladesh's second biggest T20 victory by runs.

Bangladesh captain Litton Das scored a 50-ball 76, his first T20 half century after 13 games. He helped to lead Bangladesh to 177-7 in 20 overs after Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl.

In-form batter Kusal Mendis was run out in the second over of Sri Lanka's reply and the hosts slipped to 30-4 inside the powerplay against fast bowler Shoriful Islam (2-12), one of the three changes Bangladesh made after losing the opening game.

Opening batter Pathum Nissanka (32) and Dasun Shanaka (20) were the only batters to cross the double-figure mark before Sri Lanka was bowled out with more than four overs to spare.

All five Bangladesh bowlers were among the wickets. Legspinner Rishad Hossain (3-18) finished off the match by having No. 10 batter Binura Fernando stumped.

Nissanka was also stumped by Das off Hossain which ended the 41-ball partnership for the fifth wicket, and in the same 11th over Hossain caught and bowled Chamika Karunaratne (0) to leave Sri Lanka on 71-6.

Shanaka holed out at deep mid-wicket in the 12th over against off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz before Bangladesh wrapped up the tailenders quickly.

Das followed his half century with two stumpings and two catches.

Sri Lanka won the T20 opener by seven wickets with an over to spare on Thursday.

The final T20 match is on Wednesday at Colombo.

Sri Lanka won a three-match ODI series against Bangladesh 2-1 as well as a two-match test series 1-0.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Bangladesh's Rishad Hossain bowls a delivery during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Bangladesh's Rishad Hossain bowls a delivery during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis hits a boundary during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis hits a boundary during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Bangladesh's Mohammad Saifuddin successfully dives into his crease as Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis removes the bails during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Bangladesh's Mohammad Saifuddin successfully dives into his crease as Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis removes the bails during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Bangladesh's Shamim Hossain plays a shot during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Bangladesh's Shamim Hossain plays a shot during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Bangladesh's Litton Das plays a shot during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Bangladesh's Litton Das plays a shot during the second Twenty20 cricket match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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