A mass exodus is unfolding in Tehran after a dramatic public warning from President Trump urging residents to evacuate the Iranian capital. The city—one of the largest in the Middle East—has descended into chaos, with highways gridlocked overnight as families packed belongings into cars, fearing imminent airstrikes.
The traffic jams continue for hours now in Tehran.. Not sure why these tweets are stagnant, but it is noteworthy re: the Regime that so many Iranians are fleeing their capital as Israeli jets operate freely overhead in broad daylight. https://t.co/Rr8O8jKLjQ pic.twitter.com/zNmdsB7d5b
— Ron M. (@Jewtastic) June 15, 2025
Social media has been inundated with images and videos of crowded bus stations, temporary shelters, and anxious families seeking safety. Trump’s viral message has been widely interpreted as a signal of impending U.S. military action. However, American officials maintain that U.S. forces are not currently engaged in offensive operations.
Mass exodus out of Tehran.
These people are going south in the direction of Saveh, but every road out of the capital looks exactly the same. pic.twitter.com/osFTprrl7n
— ???????????????? ???????????????? ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) June 15, 2025
In the middle of the night in the Middle East, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “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,” and concluded: “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
To the casual observer, it seemed the U.S. was entering the Iran conflict. Coupled with the deployment of American forces in the region, Trump’s warning could suggest that he was either bracing for an Iranian assault on U.S. troops or positioning himself to join Israel in a coordinated offensive against Tehran.
Yet so far, neither the president nor his administration has issued a clear statement, even as U.S. forces visibly prepare for possible action. Trump, who had originally planned to remain in Canada for the G7 summit through Tuesday, announced he would return to Washington a day early.
“I have to be back as soon as I can,” Trump told reporters at the summit in the Canadian Rockies, “because of what’s going on in the Middle East. … I have to be back early for obvious reasons.”
????????⚠️ Mass Exodus from Tehran: Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are fleeing the capital as chaos unfolds. ???????? Endless traffic jams stretch from sunrise to nightfall, with panic and fear driving the city to a standstill. The streets are clogged — the nation is on edge.#Iran… pic.twitter.com/xIyFa13m47
— Dan Brisbois (@Dan_Brisbois) June 17, 2025
Even before Trump’s late-night post, thousands of residents in Tehran had begun fleeing their homes, fearing that Israel’s airstrike campaign could intensify in the coming days. Israel issued a series of warnings to Iranian civilians, urging them to evacuate certain areas for their own safety – a move that signaled the potential for a broader and more sustained aerial assault.
Trump is weighing whether to join the fight by aiding Israel in targeting Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear enrichment facility at Fordo – a site so deeply buried that only America’s largest “bunker buster” bombs, deployed by B-2 stealth bombers, could reach it. Should he authorize the strike, the U.S. would be openly siding with Israel in a conflict that risks escalating into the kind of Middle East war Trump has long vowed to avoid.
Iranian officials have already warned that any American involvement in an attack on its nuclear infrastructure would effectively eliminate what little remains of the possibility for a renewed nuclear disarmament agreement – a deal Trump claims he still wants to pursue.
