A plume of smoke rises following a reported explosion in Tehran on Saturday.ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images
Prime Minister Mark Carney is backing U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran, saying Tehran is the main source of instability in the Middle East and must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
Still, he ruled out participating in military action against the country during a fireside chat Saturday that followed a speech he gave in Mumbai as part of a trade mission to India.
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, targeting its leadership and plunging the Middle East into a new conflict that U.S. President Donald Trump said would end a security threat to the United States and give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
“We have not been party to the military build up to this, or the military planning of this. So it is not envisioned that we would be part of it moving forward,” Mr. Carney said after being asked whether Canada would get involved.
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He called the air strikes a “serious conflict” and said in “a serious conflict, you have to make choices.”
Mr. Carney framed his support as a natural extension of Canadian foreign policy toward Iran. Canada cut off formal diplomatic relations with the country in 2012 under former prime minister Stephen Harper. Justin Trudeau never restored these ties and in 2024 designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity. Mr. Trudeau had also sanctioned 256 Iranian entities and 222 individuals in response to the regime’s repression and its violence against its own people.
“Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” Mr. Carney said in a joint statement with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand on Saturday from Canada’s trade mission to India.
Prime Minister Mark Carney called Iran the 'principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East' on Saturday.
The Associated Press
Interim NDP Leader Don Davies said on X that Mr. Carney’s support for pre-emptive strikes “contradicts numerous values” in the Prime Minister’s January World Economic Forum speech, in which he urged countries to band together in opposition to what he described as an emerging world order in which strong nations would prey on the weak.
“Endorsing illegality, violence and destruction over dialogue and peaceful resolution is not what Canadians were promised, or support.”
Mr. Carney’s rationale for supporting the strikes focused on how Iran has refused to end its nuclear weapons program.
“Despite diplomatic efforts, Iran has neither fully dismantled its nuclear program, halted all enrichment activities, nor ended its support for regional terrorist proxy groups,” the statement from Mr. Carney and Ms. Anand said.
“Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons,” the Prime Minister said.
Iran quickly retaliated with strikes Saturday on U.S. military facilities in the Middle East.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre backed the strike on Iran as well, bringing up the country’s role in shooting down Flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv in 2020, which killed Canadians and Canadian residents. Tehran, he added “tried to build nuclear weapons to annihilate our allies. It massacred tens of thousands of its own people,” he said. It “sought to kill prominent Canadian leaders, and ruthlessly targets Canadians of Jewish and Iranian descent.”
Ms. Anand later called on Iran to cease counterattacks targeting other countries in the region.
“Canada stands with the Iranian people. We strongly condemn the attacks of the Iranian regime against our partners in the Middle East,” she said in a statement. “These attacks must stop. We will continue to provide all possible support to Canadians throughout the region and urge Canadians in Iran to shelter in place.“
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She said in recent hours she has talked to foreign ministers of several countries, including Israel, Qatar, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Mr. Carney called on both sides to protect civilians.
“The Canadian government urges the protection of all civilians in this conflict. We will take all possible measures to protect our nationals and Canadian diplomatic missions throughout the region,” he said.
The Prime Minister called on Canadians in Iran to shelter in place. “Canadians in the wider region should follow local advice and take all necessary precautions.”
Ms. Anand asked Canadians in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon to consider leaving by commercial air carriers, calling the security situation across the Middle East “volatile and unpredictable.”
With a report from Reuters