Canada ‘will not be participating’ in Iran war, defence minister says
Global News
David McGuinty added that Canada has not yet decided to join its NATO allies in offering assistance to Persian Gulf nations that have come under attack by Iran.
Defence Minister David McGuinty said Monday that Canada “will not be participating” in the war in Iran after Prime Minister Mark Carney last week did not rule out the possibility of Canadian military involvement.
Speaking at an unrelated media event in Ottawa, McGuinty added that Canada has not yet decided to join its NATO allies in offering assistance to Persian Gulf nations that have come under attack by Iran.
“Clearly the situation in Iran is extremely serious,” McGuinty told reporters. “It’s one we’ve been watching since the beginning.
“It’s important for Canadians to know that Canada was not consulted before the action undertaken by Israel and the United States. Canada was not asked to comment, Canada has not participated and Canada will not be participating.”
McGuinty’s comment echoed the Prime Minister’s Office summary of a late Sunday meeting of the government’s incident response group to discuss the situation in the Middle East, which McGuinty said Monday he participated in.
“Canada was not consulted, did not participate, and has no plans to participate in the offensive actions against Iran that are being undertaken by the U.S. and Israel,” the PMO readout stated.
In Australia on March 4, Carney said the notion of Canadian participation was a “fundamental hypothetical” but said he could not “categorically rule out participation” — particularly if allies needed defending.
Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan told reporters at a defence and security conference in Ottawa last week that she and her NATO counterparts would be meeting to consider helping Gulf states defend themselves against bombing from Iran.
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