DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel claimed Tuesday to have killed a top Iranian general as it traded more strikes with its longtime foe, and U.S. President Donald Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuatewhile suggesting that the United States could give up on negotiations.
Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”
When asked to explain, he said the U.S. wanted to see “a real end” to the conflict that could involve Iran “giving up entirely.” He added: “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”
Trump’s hard line added to the uncertainty roiling the region on the fifth day of Israel’s air campaign aimed at Iran’s military and nuclear program. Residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves, and the U.N. nuclear watchdog for the first time said Israeli strikes on Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz had also damaged its main underground section, not just an above-ground facility, as previously acknowledged.
Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran.
Iran has retaliated by launching some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel.
Israel targets more Iranian leaders
The head of the operations directorate of the Israeli military, Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, said Israel continued to strike Iran’s leadership “to deepen our achievements, according to our plan and on our own timeline.” The military claimed to have killed another top Iranian general in a strike on Tehran.
Iran did not immediately comment on the reported killing of Gen. Ali Shadmani, whom Israel described as the most senior military commander in Iran.
Shadmani was little-known in the country before being appointed last week to a chief-of-staff-like role as head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters. That appointment followed the killing of his predecessor, Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, in an Israeli strike.
The Israeli military also announced on two occasions Tuesday that Iran had fired new salvos of missiles but said most were intercepted.
Meanwhile, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Israeli airstrikes around the city of Isfahan, with air defenses also firing. A series of explosions and anti-aircraft fire boomed throughout Tehran just before 6:30 p.m.
Shops closed, lines for gas in Iran’s capital
Echoing an earlier Israeli military call for some 330,000 residents of a neighborhood in downtown Tehran to evacuate, Trump warned on social media that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.”
Tehran is one of the largest cities in the Middle East, with around 10 million people, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Israel. People have been fleeing since hostilities began.
Asked why he had urged the evacuation of Tehran, Trump said: “I just want people to be safe.”
Downtown Tehran emptied out early Tuesday, with many shops shuttered, even the ancient Grand Bazaar, which has closed only in times of crisis, such as during the 2022 anti-government protests and the coronavirus pandemic.
On the roads out of Tehran to the west, traffic stood bumper to bumper. Many middle- and upper-class Iranians were headed to the Caspian Sea, a popular getaway spot. Long lines snaked from Tehran’s gas stations. Placards and billboards across the city called for a “severe” response to Israeli strikes.
