Trump asks Tehran residents to ‘evacuate immediately’. But can they?

On Monday, Israel ordered Iranians to evacuate from the bluish portion of the capital, Tehran, days aft launching its deadly strikes crossed Iran. The aforesaid day, it bombed the office of the authorities TV transmission IRIB during a unrecorded broadcast.

Experts accidental these moves signifier portion of Israel’s “psychological warfare” against Iranians, galore of whom person already near the superior amid a continuing barrage of Israeli attacks, which person killed much than 220 radical successful 5 days.

Israeli spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued an “urgent warning” connected X connected Monday, calling for an evacuation bid for District 3, a leafy, affluent country successful bluish Tehran wherever galore overseas embassies are located.

It came attached with a 3D representation and a informing to residents that their beingness determination “endangers” their lives; a format strikingly akin to his warnings issued passim Israel’s warfare connected Gaza and its bombardment of Lebanon.

Later, different evacuation bid came from Israel’s closest ally, the United States. “Everyone should instantly evacuate Tehran!” US President Donald Trump wrote connected his Truth Social level connected Monday.

But tin a full metropolis – location to astir 10 cardinal radical – simply battalion up and leave? Let’s interruption it down for you:

How imaginable is it for each of Tehran’s residents to evacuate?

It would beryllium hard for each its residents to permission successful a timeframe that would guarantee their safety, according to Al Jazeera’s analogous successful Tehran, Maziar Motamedi.

One crushed is that Iran’s superior has a ample colonisation of astir 10 million, which is much radical than successful London oregon New York.

If you grow that country to the metropolitan area, which includes surrounding suburbs and towns, its colonisation stands astatine astir 14-15 million.

Heavy postulation congestion is already communal successful Tehran, particularly during unreserved hr oregon nationalist holidays, but galore of the roads connected Tuesday were astatine a standstill with postulation jams passim the metropolis arsenic residents attempted to evacuate.

The postulation jams are reportedly worsening arsenic the time progresses.

Tehran is besides surrounded by mountainous terrain, and exit routes are constricted to less than a twelve arteries that pb retired of the city.

Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari spoke to immoderate residents who had been attempting to permission Tehran, noting that a travel that usually takes 7 to 8 hours to scope an country by the Caspian Sea tin present instrumentality betwixt 18 and 24 hours to complete, owed to traffic.

It takes weeks if not months to evacuate Tehran. pic.twitter.com/yiqM3ND6az

— Omid Memarian (@Omid_M) June 16, 2025

Are determination immoderate weaponry shelters successful Tehran?

No.

“There are nary weaponry shelters successful Iran, determination ne'er person been, truthful radical truly don’t person anyplace to go”, Al Jazeera’s Jabbari explained.

“This was an unthinkable concern for astir Iranians. They haven’t seen bombs dropping connected Tehran since the Iran-Iraq War, and that ended 37 years ago,” she said.

A nonmigratory of the Zafaraniyeh neighbourhood successful bluish Tehran told Al Jazeera that officials had suggested that metro stations and immoderate schools successful the metropolis could beryllium prepared to accommodate radical seeking shelter.

However, these structures were not designed to withstand the benignant of bombardment that Israel has been striking the superior with.

What is successful District 3?

The country that the Israeli subject has issued evacuation orders for is location to astir 330,000 radical and the sprawling office of the Iranian authorities broadcaster IRIB, which Israel bombed connected Monday aft Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said it was “on its mode to disappear”.

It is besides location to the engaged Nelson Mandela Boulevard, which experiences regular postulation jams and is location to respective overseas embassies.

The lush expanse of Mellat Park, the Enghelab Sports Complex with its fashionable outdoor swimming facilities, respective hospitals and the sprawling Tehran International Exhibition Centre are besides situated successful the area.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has its Sarallah office successful the area, arsenic bash the police.

Al Jazeera’s Motamedi said respective highways tally done oregon on the periphery of the country marked successful Israel’s evacuation orders, putting civilians utilizing those roads astatine risk.

However, helium said, wherever residents go, they person been astatine hazard from the commencement with Israel’s bombs striking whenever and wherever they want.

A postulation jam forms arsenic radical successful Tehran effort to fly via an artery successful the city’s westbound [Atta Kenare/AFP]

Have galore Tehran residents person already left?

Yes.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said a important information of the colonisation has chosen to permission the metropolis successful effect to the explosions and repeated informing messages by Israel.

He said determination is simply a beardown consciousness of anxiousness and fearfulness among residents, but determination is besides a chiseled feeling of solidarity among those who stay successful the capital.

He said erstwhile helium spoke to people, peculiarly those surviving successful the neighbourhoods that were targeted, determination was a heavy consciousness of anger.

Residents accidental they person nary transportation to the atomic programme oregon subject facilities, and that they are conscionable citizens whose lives are present being straight affected by these events, helium reported from the capital.

Both of my parents fled Iran truthful this is personal. Trump's words are callous and horrifying.

Tehran is simply a monolithic metropolis of astir 10 million. Iranian radical merit state but Trump’s menace of murdering guiltless civilians, a wide casualty event, oregon different endless warfare is not the… pic.twitter.com/lQLBBYNaaR

— Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (@RepYassAnsari) June 16, 2025

Where tin residents evacuate to?

Trump has made it dependable simple, but relocating ample numbers of radical to different parts of the state is not straightforward.

Many residents person household elsewhere successful the state oregon are opting to enactment successful hotels.

However, Israel has targeted locations crossed the country, which means determination is nary harmless spot to caput to.

Motamedi said that galore radical whitethorn look to caput northbound of Tehran to less-targeted areas specified arsenic Rasht, Nur, Chalus, Bandar Anzali and Mahmudabad.

These areas are fashionable with holidaymakers, meaning that hotels and impermanent accommodation whitethorn beryllium available.

Others accidental they fearfulness that an influx of displaced radical could pb to shortages successful those areas, truthful they are uncertain of wherever they could evacuate to.

Have we seen these types of evacuation orders before?

Yes.

Since Israel began its warfare connected Gaza successful October 2023, it has issued galore evacuation orders akin to the ones issued for District 3 connected Monday.

It has besides issued the aforesaid benignant of evacuation bid erstwhile it strikes successful locations successful Lebanon.

Jabbari said that though these strategies are similar, Iran has an wholly antithetic geography and is besides a sovereign state, truthful it is simply a warfare “on a overmuch larger scale”.

What Israel is utilizing is thing called the Dahiyeh Doctrine, which is simply a strategy developed successful 2006 erstwhile it was astatine warfare with Hezbollah, she said.

This strategy is erstwhile Israel uses excessive unit to destruct areas successful densely populated civilian neighbourhoods, with the pretext that it is attacking subject targets, Jabbari explained.

Israel’s goal, she said, was to instil fearfulness and panic, and unit radical to wantonness their enactment for their governmental leadership.

Palestinians successful Gaza cannot permission the besieged enclave, arsenic each borders and boundaries are closed, but Trump has inactive suggested relocating its full colonisation and to “clean retired that full thing”.