Huge lines of cars have filled motorways as residents flee the intensifying conflict between Iran and Israel, who have traded aerial attacks for another day.
Civilians escaping Iran’s capital of Tehran, which is home to 10 million people, say the journey out has been bumper to bumper and taking hours longer than it usually would.
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Pictures shared on social media showed a packed Tehran highway with cars backed up, with locals also describing huge lines for petrol.
Israel’s military had issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people within 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.
An Iranian television anchor fled her studio during a live broadcast as Israeli bombs fell on the headquarters of the country’s state-run TV station.
And Donald Trump posted a chilling warning on social media for those living in Tehran, saying “everyone should immediately evacuate”.
“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!”, the president said.
“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.”
Trump has left the G7 summit in Canada a day early to head back to Washington amid the crisis in the Middle East.
It meant the cancellation of a face-to-face meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Trump denied it was to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, claiming it was “much bigger than that”.
The air war between old enemies began on Friday when Israel attacked Iran with what it called a preemptive strike to stop the development of nuclear weapons.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s assaults have set Iran’s nuclear program back a “very, very long time.”
He added Israel is not attempting to topple the Iranian government, but he said he would not be surprised if that happened as a result of the strikes.
“The regime is very weak,” Netanyahu said.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has said it has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told four European counterparts that Iran was serious about diplomacy but its current focus was on confronting aggression, Iranian state media reported.
Iran says more than 220 Iranians have been killed, most of them civilians.
Israel says 24 civilians have been killed, all of them civilians.
- With AAP
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