Smoke rises over buildings on Tuesday in Tehran. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says she requested use of Oman's airspace to evacuate Canadians stranded in the region.Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has asked her Omani counterpart for use of the country’s airspace to evacuate Canadians from the Middle East if it becomes necessary. But as the war in Iran continued to escalate, Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that it is currently too dangerous to execute a large-scale repatriation of Canadians.
Speaking in Toronto Tuesday, Ms. Anand said a top priority for the federal government is helping the 100,000 Canadians in the region, and she had spoken to her counterparts in several Middle Eastern and Gulf states since the hostilities broke out.
On Tuesday, she had a call with Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi about helping Canadians wanting to escape the escalating conflict.
Ms. Anand said she was “making sure that there are possibilities for Canadians to have supports in those countries.” Oman at the time of her conversation with its Foreign Minister still had an open airspace.
“And so, I requested use of that airspace, if necessary for Canadian citizens to get out,” she said during an informal interview with the Toronto Board of Trade.
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Asked at a press conference in Sydney, Australia, what is being done to help Canadians stuck in the Middle East, Mr. Carney said he has been engaging with his counterparts in the region.
But he said, “For the time being, it is a question of security, and the situation remains too dangerous for now to repatriate Canadians from the region on a large scale but we are working with airlines at this time, and at a high level.”
Global Affairs Canada is warning Canadians in the region not to “rely on the Government of Canada’s assistance for evacuations or assisted departures.”
It said in an e-mail that it is not aware of any Canadians who have been injured or killed since the start of the hostilities after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday.
It is processing travel documents as a priority but its ability to provide consular services in the region is limited, it warned. It said it has advised Canadians to “prepare contingency plans that don’t rely on the Government of Canada’s assistance for departure.”
However, Canadian consular staff in Lebanon have booked a number of seats on a commercial flight from Beirut to Istanbul leaving on Wednesday for Canadians and permanent residents trying to leave. The embassy in Lebanon reserved the seats on a Middle East Airlines flight, it said on X.
Ms. Anand says she's been reaching out to her counterparts in several Middle Eastern and Gulf states about helping Canadians.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The embassy said it plans to keep updating Canadians who have registered with Global Affairs on exit options from Lebanon.
On Tuesday, the U.S. and Israel engaged in a fresh wave of attacks on Iran which retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel and across the Gulf region, including against U.S. bases.
As the violence escalated, European countries activated plans to evacuate thousands of their citizens. Spain has begun evacuating its citizens and France is preparing charter flights to bring home its nationals from the Middle East.
Myah Tomasi, spokesperson for Ms. Anand, urged Canadians in the region “to leave while commercial options are still available” and to follow local guidance so they travel only when it is safe to do so.
Global Affairs has sent members of its Standing Rapid Deployment Team to the region to support its consular staff cope with the crisis.
The Rapid Deployment Team, on standby to help the government respond to emergencies, contributes to providing consular assistance, and coordinating logistical support for Canadians, including in conflict zones.
Global Affairs is providing updates to Canadians who have registered with them about which land crossings and airports are open and about available flights.
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It has advised Canadians to avoid all travel to Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, and to avoid non-essential travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
It is also advising Canadians in Iran “to shelter in place.”
“Our ability to provide consular services in Iran is extremely limited, especially during an active conflict,” the travel advisory said. Canada has no diplomatic ties with Iran and its embassy in Tehran closed in 2012.
Updated travel advice for Canadians in Lebanon warns that the “security situation could deteriorate further, and lead to additional airspace restrictions and flight disruptions.”
“Commercial flights are operating. You should leave while these options remain available,” it says.
There have been widespread cancellations of flights across the Middle East, stranding thousands of travellers, including in Dubai, which has one of the busiest hub airports in the region.
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The number of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in the region who have registered with Global Affairs has increased in the past few days to more than 97,000 from 85,000 on March 1.
This includes 2,921 in Iran; 6,030 in Israel; 4,477 in Jordan; and 23,304 in Lebanon.
Canada has helped its citizens book flights, offered consular support and provided advice about open border crossings during previous conflicts in the Middle East.
It has also drawn up contingency plans in the past to evacuate Canadians to Cyprus and Turkey.
In 2006, Canada evacuated thousands of its citizens from Lebanon after war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah.
Canadians were evacuated by sea to holding centres in Cyprus and Turkey, and from there by air to Canada. There were 34 departures from Lebanon by ship from the port of Beirut and another from the port of Tyre.
In 2013, contingency plans to evacuate tens of thousands of Canadian citizens living in Lebanon were drawn up by the federal government, as fears grew of a looming war between Hezbollah and Israel. At the time, Ottawa issued increasingly strong warnings against travel to Lebanon and urged those already there to leave while commercial travel was available.