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Prime Minister Mark Carney says his support for US President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran comes amid a “failure of international order” and is “not a blank cheque.”
After the first strike over the weekend, Carney said Canada supports the US in preventing the Islamic Republic of Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, calling the regime “the main source of instability and fear throughout the Middle East” with “one of the worst human rights records in the world.”
“We took the position because we view the nuclear threat and the export of terrorism from Iran for decades as one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” Carney said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon eastern time.
“In that limited sense we supported that feature. That’s not a blank check. That’s not us stakeholders. That’s not us asking for something in exchange for that. [support]. That’s just the exact situation.”
Carney’s initial statement was applauded in some circles and criticized in others for failing to address international law.
Speaking in prepared remarks, Carney revised his position, adding that “Canada confirms that international law is binding on all dissenters.”
“Canada takes the world as it is, it doesn’t expect the country we aspire to be,” he said.
“However, we take this position with regret because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international system.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney called for a delay in US and Israeli war against Iran on Tuesday, adding that Canada supports efforts to end Iran’s nuclear program. Carney said that although Canada was not asked to participate in the strikes on Iran, ‘it appears that these actions are not in accordance with international law.’
Carney said that despite decades of UN Security Council resolutions, Iran remains a nuclear threat.
“And now the United States and Israel have acted without contacting the United Nations or consulting with partners, including Canada,” he said.
It was the first time the prime minister answered questions since he embarked on a trade-focused international trip six days ago and the first since the weekend airstrike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Carney called for an “immediate end to hostilities.”
“Political dialogue is essential to avoid a broader and deeper conflict. Innocent civilians must be protected, and all parties must commit to finding lasting agreements to end both nuclear proliferation and terrorist extremism,” he said.
“Canada will follow this path with like-minded countries involved in the conflict.”
A Liberal MP expressed concern about Carney’s statement
Carney’s support for the US-led war did not sit well with everyone in the Liberal camp.
In a report published Saturday, former Liberal foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy compared Carney’s statement on Iran to Canada’s decision in 2003 not to support the US invasion of Iraq. He said, like that attack, the attack on Iran could not be justified under the United Nations Charter.
“Iran is not an isolated case either,” writes Axworthy. “This is the seventh country where President Trump has ordered the use of joint force during his time in office. That should be a big wake-up call for a central government like Canada.”
Breaking with his leader, Liberal MP Will Greaves shared similar views in a video posted on social media on Saturday night.
“We can be very clear about Iran’s human rights record and its abuses and the negative role it has played in the Middle East, and we still insist on exchange, restraint and the protection of civilians, because that’s what honesty looks like in a broken world,” said Greaves, who was elected last year as professor of international relations at the University of Victoria.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said on social media over the weekend that his party supports “the United States, Israel and our allies across the gulf to defend their sovereignty and dismantle the dictatorship of the Iranian clerics.”
