Trump Says Iran's Ayatollah Safe 'For Now' As Tehran Residents Flee

President Donald Trump says the United States knows where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding and that Iran's leader is safe "for now," as resident of Tehran fled the capital in droves amid Israeli warnings of "significant" air strikes.

In a social media just ahead of convening the National Security Council on June 17, Trump issued the thinly veiled threat to Khamenei as he urged Iran to offer its "unconditional surrender."

"He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now," Trump wrote.

"Our patience is wearing thin," he added just hours after he called for a "real end" to five days of deadly air strikes by both Iran and Israel.

Trump's tweet also came after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the country's military would issue evacuation warnings to residents of capital ahead of a new strike on June 17.

"We will attack very significant targets in Tehran today...We will continue to deal heavy blows to Iran," Katz said.

Iranian media reported several blasts in the central city of Isfahan, where several of the country's nuclear facilities are located.

Meanwhile, air raid sirens screamed across Tel Aviv in the late afternoon to warn of possible incoming Iranian air strikes.

As he left a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada early to deal with the crisis in the Middle East at a meeting of his National Security Council, Trump expressed frustration with Tehran for failing to reach an agreement on its nuclear program, which is being target by Israel even though Iran says it is purely for civilian purposes.

"I'm not looking for a ceasefire, we're looking at something better than a ceasefire," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he left the Canadian province of Alberta.

Earlier on on June 17, the Israeli army claimed it had killed Ali Shadmani, who was appointed commander of the Khatam ol-Anbiya central headquarters after the June 13 killing of Major General Gholam Ali Rashid.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge the death of Shadmani, who was a general in Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The headquarters is responsible for operational command and control and its leader serves as the deputy commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces.

Trump left the G7 summit late on June 16 with an ominous message on social media warning "everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran."

"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. I said it over and over again," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!"

CNN quoted an unnamed White House official as saying Trump's evacuation comment was meant to pressure Iran to negotiate.

Before Trump departed the summit all seven leaders signed a joint statement stressing "the importance of the protection of civilians" as the growing attacks kill civilians on both sides.

The leaders of the G7 -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States -- also stated their conviction that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon" and that Israel "has a right to defend itself."

The statement expressed hopes that a resolution of the Iranian crisis "leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a cease-fire in Gaza."

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Iranians On The Ground Describe Life Under Fire

Tehran slammed the G7 statement for ignoring "Israel's blatant aggression," as well as "illegal attacks on our peaceful nuclear infrastructure, the indiscriminate targeting of residential areas, and the killing of our citizens."

Iranian media reported explosions and heavy air defense fire in Tehran early on June 17. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising in the eastern part of the city after what appeared to be explosions.

Local media also said air defenses were activated in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320 km (200 miles) away.

Meanwhile, doctors and nurses are said to have been recalled from leave to carry out their duties.

Residents in Tehran spent the night on edge after Trump's call to evacuate, which came after a day where Israel warned the city's District 3 to evacuate hours before a massive strike on the Iranian state news broadcaster IRIB that killed three people.

Thousands have been trying to leave the city since the strikes began on June 13, clogging roads and sparking fuel shortages, forcing many to stay in their homes rather than risk being exposed in traffic jams that snaked for several kilometers on major highways leading out of the capital.

"Leaving Tehran is also a complicated matter. And this is if you are lucky enough to have a place to go to. And many are from cities that are not necessarily safe to return to," one Tehran resident who said her name was Mina told Radio Farda.

Questions have been raised about possible US involvement in the attacks on Iran since Israel launched the first wave of bombardments on June 13. The US president has repeatedly said the United States was not involved in initial strikes and declined to say if Washington would participate.

Asked what it would take for the US to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said, “I don’t want to talk about that.“

Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able to destroy the Fordow uranium enrichment facility, which is buried deep underground about 200 kilometers south of Tehran.

Israel would need the a US bunker-busting bomb, which can only be delivered by the US military's B-2 stealth bomber, to eliminate it, military experts quoted in US media reports have said.

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At What Stage Is The Iranian Nuclear Program?

Trump’s abrupt departure from the summit means he will miss a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who arrived at the venue early on June 17.

That meeting might have been another contentious one between the two men after Trump on June 16 said the former Group of Eight had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.

Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump called that move a “big mistake," adding he believes Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Putin not been ejected.

"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin speaks to me. He doesn't speak to anybody else.... He's not a happy person about it. I can tell you that he basically doesn't even speak to the people that threw him out, and I agree with him," Trump said.

Though Trump stopped short of saying Russia should be reinstated in the group, his comments raised doubts about how much Zelenskyy might have achieved at the meeting.

The leaders of European nations in the G7 had said before the summit began that they wanted to persuade Trump to back tougher sanctions on Moscow.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP