Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated he could not rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating conflict in the Middle East, after previously saying that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law.”
Canada’s Response to Middle East Conflict
Speaking alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Thursday, Carney was asked whether Canada would become involved in the conflict. “One can never categorically rule out participation,” he said, characterizing the question as “hypothetical.”
“We will stand by our allies,” Carney said, adding that “we will always defend Canadians.”
Carney had earlier supported the strikes on Iran “with some regret,” describing them as an extreme example of a fracturing global order.
The Canadian prime minister also noted that his country was not informed in advance of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, in his first public comments since the strikes began on Saturday.
“We were not informed in advance, we were not asked to participate,” Carney told reporters traveling with him in Australia on Wednesday.
“Prima facie, it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law,” he said.
“The United States and Israel have acted without engaging the United Nations or consulting with allies, including Canada,” he added, according to Australia’s SBS News, while also condemning strikes on civilians in Iran and calling for “all parties … to respect the rules of international engagement.”
Carney added that determining whether the US and Israeli attacks on Iran had broken international law was “a judgement for others to make.”
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on Wednesday that efforts were underway to help more than 2,000 Canadians who have requested assistance from the government to leave the Middle East since the conflict began on Saturday.
Anand said approximately half of all inquiries for help were from Canadians in the United Arab Emirates, with over 230 from Qatar, at least 160 from Lebanon, more than 90 from Israel and 74 from Iran.
Canada’s Foreign Ministry has been instructed to contract charter flights out of the UAE in the coming days, pending approval from the UAE government to use its airspace, the minister said.
Commercial air traffic remains largely suspended across much of the region, with major Gulf hubs – including Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers – largely shut down amid the conflict, resulting in the biggest travel disruption since the COVID pandemic.
Repatriation flights chartered by foreign governments, including Britain and France, were scheduled to depart on Wednesday and Thursday, while the UAE opened safe air corridors to allow some citizens to return home.
Under normal circumstances, thousands of commercial flights would depart the region each day.
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