Prime Minister Mark Carney said he supports the U.S. action in Iran, but Canada will not get directly involved in the conflict after American and Israeli militaries launched an attack on the Middle Eastern country that left its leader dead.
"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," he said at an event in Mumbai, India, before the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was confirmed.
Carney called Iran the "principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East" and said it must never be able to develop a nuclear weapon.
"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," Carney said.
He also recognized the struggle of the Iranian people, and called on all parties to protect civilian lives as much as possible.
"Canada stands with Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against this oppressive regime and we reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself."
In a statement, Carney urged Canadians in Iran to shelter in place.
Iranian media earlier reported strikes nationwide, with some of the first strikes appearing to hit areas around the offices of Khamenei.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 86-year-old leader was in his offices at the time of the strike. Iran's state media later confirmed he was dead but did not report the cause.
Hours after the strikes, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a "first wave" of drones and missiles targeting Israel.
U.S. President Donald Trump justified the military action by claiming that Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach the U.S. Trump also listed grievances stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic.
Carney said he and his finance and foreign affairs ministers have had a series of discussions in recent weeks with the U.S. president and top officials about "the possibility of this happening" if diplomatic efforts were not successful.
Also in Mumbai, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told reporters Canada's ability to help those in Iran would be limited.
"There is no Canadian embassy in Iran," she said during a media availability.
In a statement, Anand warned Canada's "ability to provide consular services is extremely limited, especially during an active conflict."
The statement also advised Canadians in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon to consider leaving "while commercial options remain available."
A statement from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the Iranian regime "the principal source of terror in the Middle East and around the world" that has "shown no good faith in negotiations to change course."
"That is why Conservatives support the courageous people of Iran in toppling this terror regime and reclaiming their destiny after 47 years of the regime's occupation. Conservatives support a democratic, free and permanently-denuclearized Iran that lives in peace and security with its neighbours," he said in the statement.
"And Conservatives support the United States, Israel, and our allies across the Gulf to defend their sovereignty and dismantle the clerical military dictatorship of Iran."
Poilievre also tweeted that Khamenei's death "brings justice for the Iranian people."
Carney said he expected there would be an impact on oil prices when asked in India about the potential financial impact of the hostilities. But he said the issue is primarily about global security.
"I view the issue as a fundamental issue of geopolitics, of ending state-sponsored terrorism, ending nuclear proliferation in Iran and of course protecting civilian lives as much as possible as opposed to majoring on the economic side, which I don't view as being, in the fullness of time, that material," he said.
Carney's support of the attack drew criticism from Wesley Wark, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
He said Carney, "from the distance of his trip to India, has come out in full support of the U.S. action," and is simply echoing talking points from the Trump administration.
Wark said in an online post the move is a "terrible mistake" and Carney's first significant foreign policy error.
"It seems we still struggle to unhook ourselves from thought and policy dependency on the United States, despite a brave speech in Davos.”
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
