WATCH: Calls for Tehran to evacuate mean more than meets the eye
With the armed conflict between Israel and Iran escalating, President Donald Trump has advised Iran to capitulate, saying on social media that even though the U.S. knows the hidden location of the nation’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he doesn’t want Khamenei killed “for now,” but rather is calling for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”
Now with over 220 people having been killed by Israeli airstrikes against Iran to deter its nuclear program, the U.S. and Israel have advised millions of Iranian people to evacuate their nation’s capital city of Tehran. On Monday, Trump said on social media, “IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” adding, “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”
In an interview with WorldNetDaily, veteran national security analyst Ryan Mauro of the Capital Research Center said the issuing of statements to evacuate Tehran may have multiple intentions. “It likely has purposes beyond just minimizing casualties ahead of large Israeli strikes,” explained Mauro, who has focused his expertise on the Middle East for over 20 years.
Broadly speaking, he said, an evacuation would help “drain Iranian resources.” But there are other more specific reasons, he told WND.
With the potential for hundreds of thousands to begin exiting the city, Mauro said, “Traffic jams would make it harder for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian ground forces and mobile weaponry to deploy and move around.”
The leaders of Iran didn’t listen to Trump, but the people of Tehran are. Bumper to bumper traffic of people leaving. pic.twitter.com/pXbnT0SBmw
— Paratrooper Brady (@ParatooperBrady) June 17, 2025
Likewise, he said, should traffic be ordered to one side of the road to create an evacuation lane for the Iranian military, that would “give away their cover and identify themselves to aerial observers.”
And the chaos of massive amounts of traffic has other advantages for Israel, the national security analyst pointed out. “It’s much easier to move covert operators and informants around because [their] movement blends in, as checkpoints and domestic security become overwhelmed.”
Mauro said the call for evacuation also “induced panic and possible defections.” He explained: “Israeli intel can see which Iranian units are responsive to regime commands to stay put, or move to more dangerous locations,” adding that “the ones who prefer staying alive will refuse or will drag their feet.”
What’s more, he said, “there will be increased opportunities for assassinations.” For example, he explained, “Israel can’t kill a target because he lives in the middle of an apartment building, but if he evacuates and gets stuck in traffic, he’s now vulnerable and local security’s response time is lessened due to congestion.” Likewise, Mauro added, “Should a target stay inside a building but everyone else has evacuated, you can now target the building via an airstrike or infiltrate a hit squad when you couldn’t before.”
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