The U.S. and Iran may meet this week after Donald Trump abruptly left the G7 summit in Canada early as Israel and Iran continue to trade attacks.
The President’s departure Monday evening came minutes after he urged “everyone” to “immediately evacuate Tehran,” which is home to around 9.5 million people.
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“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!”
Tensions between Israel and Iran have escalated since Israel’s first attack on Iran on Friday, while Trump has urged finding a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. Trump’s post and announcement came after Israel earlier Monday struck Iran’s state-run television station during a live broadcast and after at least 8 people were killed in the latest round of Iranian missile strikes on Israeli cities.
The ongoing exchange of attacks has brought the regional death toll to at least 24 in Israel and 224 in Iran, with hundreds more injured in the former and over a thousand in the latter.
U.S. and Iran may meet this week
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi may meet this week to discuss a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Iran, news outlet Axios reported on Monday night.
The meeting is not yet confirmed but is part of Trump’s effort to deescalate tensions between Israel and Iran while facing pressure from Israel to join the war. A U.S. official told Axios that a key bargaining chip for the U.S. is its military’s ability, unlike Israel’s, to bomb Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment facility at Fordow.
Trump said at the G7 summit that his Administration is discussing the possibility of meeting with Iran and reiterated his position that a deal can be made. The aim of the meeting will likely also involve reaching a nuclear deal, which has been the subject of protracted talks between the U.S. and Iran over the last two months. A scheduled round of negotiations over the past weekend had been cancelled by Iran after the attack by Israel.
“I think a deal will be signed,” Trump told reporters at the G7. “I think Iran is foolish not to sign one.”
Trump leaves G7 early as U.S. deploys “defensive” forces to Middle East
Trump cut short his visit to the G7 summit on Monday amid worsening hostilities in the Middle East.
“Much was accomplished [at the G7], but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on X.
The decision came shortly after Trump urged “everyone” to evacuate Tehran immediately, while the U.S. deployed more than a dozen aircraft to Europe to place them closer to the Middle East in case of the need to defend U.S. interests.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a Monday statement on X that “additional capabilities” have also been deployed to the Middle East. “Protecting U.S. forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” he said.
White House spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer rebutted the suggestion that the moves indicate that the U.S. has joined the war. “American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests,” he said on X.
“We are vigilant. We are prepared. We have messaged consistently from the beginning that we’re in the region to defend our people and our assets,” Hegseth said on Fox News on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Trump urged Iran to pursue immediate talks with Israel to deescalate hostilities, warning that continued conflict could have dire consequences.
“Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters at the beginning of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
Trump’s meetings with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which were scheduled for Tuesday, were cancelled.
“I have to be back, very important,” Trump told reporters. “You probably see what I see, and I have to be back as soon as I can.”
Trump reportedly asked the national security council to convene at the White House Situation Room ahead of his return.
Israel achieves “full aerial control” above Tehran; Iran warns of massive retaliation
Israel’s military has “achieved full aerial control above Tehran” and destroyed roughly one-third of Iran’s surface-to-surface missile launchers, an Israeli government spokesperson said Monday.
Air raid sirens were reported in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv—where two of the latest casualties occurred.
In response to the latest round of hostilities, Iranian state media claimed the country is preparing for what it called “the largest and most intense missile attack in history on Israeli soil.”
The same outlets also reported that an Israeli airstrike hit Farabi Hospital in Kermanshah, western Iran, killing civilians. A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the attack a “war crime” and a violation of international law.
Behind the scenes however, Tehran is understood to be signaling its interest in ending hostilities and resuming nuclear negotiations, sending messages to Israel and the United States via Arab intermediaries.
Oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel Monday amid the reports Iran is seeking to end the conflict.
Iranian state TV office hit in Israeli strike
Israel attacked the offices of Iranian state TV Monday, interrupting a live IRIB broadcast and sending debris and dust through the studio.
“The Iranian regime’s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of residents in the area,” Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement.
“We will defeat the Iranian dictator everywhere,” he said.
Anchor Sahar Emami is seen talking live, saying: “This sound you heard, it is the sound of aggression against the homeland, the sound of aggression against truth and righteousness,” followed by a loud explosion and the screen behind her turning black.
Emami then leaves the studio set, as debris and dust fills the studio. Hours before the attack, the IDF issued an evacuation notice for Tehran’s District 3, where the state television headquarters are located in the IRIB Organization building.
In response to the strike, a senior official at the state broadcaster has said: “The regime [Israel] was unaware of the fact that the voice of the Islamic revolution and the great Iran will not be silenced with a military operation.”
Trump “rejected Israeli plan to kill Iranian leader”
Trump also reportedly rejected a recent proposal from Israel to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to U.S. media citing unnamed officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the option to Trump during a call over the weekend.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Netanyahu declined to confirm or deny the proposal.
“There are so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that,” Netanyahu said. “But I can tell you I think we do what we need to do. We will do what we need to do, and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States.”
Trump reiterated Sunday that the United States was not involved in the Israeli strikes that began early Friday. In a post on Truth Social, he added: “We can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for U.S. military involvement, saying it “would be in everyone’s interests” to target Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. “We trust that President Trump will do the right thing—not only for the United States but for the world,” Lapid said.
Putin and Erdogan condemn Israeli actions against Iran
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israeli military actions during a phone call on Monday, according to the Kremlin.
“Both sides expressed the most serious concern about the ongoing escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, which has already led to a large number of casualties and is fraught with serious long-term consequences for the entire region,” the Kremlin also said in a statement.
Erdogan also warned that Israel’s June 13 airstrikes have placed the region’s security “at grave risk,” according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Read More: Israel Gets the War It Wanted
Nuclear agency warns of radiological and chemical contamination inside Iran’s main nuclear site
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned Monday of potential radiological and chemical contamination at Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz following Israeli airstrikes.
Radiation levels outside the site remain normal, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told an emergency session in Vienna. However, he stressed that the agency lacks critical technical information to assess the full extent of the damage.
“Amid these challenging and complex circumstances, it is crucial that the IAEA receives timely and regular technical information about the facilities and their respective sites,” Grossi said.
Without this access to information, the IAEA “cannot accurately assess the radiological conditions and potential impacts on the population and the environment and cannot provide the necessary assistance,” he said.
Electrical facilities at the Natanz plant have been seriously damaged according to the IAEA, including the main power supply building and back up generators which have been destroyed.
The agency has also reported that strikes appear to have only impacted facilities above ground, but have not been able to verify any damage to underground areas of the plant.
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