Trump to leave G7 early, Albanese meeting in doubt
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Donald Trump is in jeopardy, with US President preparing to abruptly leave the Group of Seven summit.
Albanese was due to meet Trump on the sidelines of the G7 on Tuesday (local time).
But Trump has revealed he will depart Canada on Monday night due to the escalating situation in the Middle East.
“The President had a great day 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,” his secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a post on X.
The news broke just minutes after Albanese had concluded his last media event for the day.
It also followed a chilling warning from Trump on social media that everyone in Tehran should “immediately evacuate” as he lamented Iran’s decision not to sign a deal with the US limiting its nuclear program.
“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
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“Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
Iran earlier called on Trump to force Israel to halt its fire as the only way to end the four-day-old war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said his country was on the “path to victory” and an Israeli strike hit an Iranian television studio.
“If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
“Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”
Sources told Reuters that Iran had asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press Trump to use his influence on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, said the two Iranian and three regional sources.
Netanyahu told Israeli troops at an air base that Israel was on its way to achieving its two main aims: Wiping out Iran’s nuclear program and destroying its missiles.
“We are on the path to victory,” he said.
“We are telling the citizens of Tehran: ‘Evacuate’ – and we are taking action.”
On Monday (local time), an Iranian state television reporter had to stop a live broadcast when there was an explosion in a studio.
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Presenter Sahar Emami of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network rushed off-camera as the screen behind her cut out. Off-screen, people were heard saying “Allahu akbar”, the Arabic phrase for God is great.
The broadcast quickly switched to pre-recorded programs.
Emami was soon back live from another studio, seen speaking with another anchor.
She said that there were “bodies of reporters” at the site of the initial broadcast. Images showed smoke and flames in the sky.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz took credit for the attack.
“The Iranian regime’s propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority was attacked by the IDF after a widespread evacuation of the area’s residents,” Katz said.
“We will strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.”
Iran’s retaliation is the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that missiles fired from Iran have pierced Israeli defences in significant numbers and killed Israelis in their homes.
Iran says more than 224 Iranians have been killed, mostly civilians.
Media published images of wounded children, women and the elderly from cities across the country.
State TV broadcast scenes of collapsed presidential buildings, burned-out cars, and shattered streets in Tehran.
Many residents are trying to flee the capital, describing queues for petrol and bank machines that were out of cash.
“I am desperate. My two children are scared and cannot sleep at night because of the sound of air defence and attacks, explosions. But we have nowhere to go. We hid under our dining table,” Gholamreza Mohammadi, 48, a civil servant, told Reuters by phone from Tehran.
