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The head of the Canadian Armed Forces says Canada may be called on to help defend Persian Gulf states from Iran’s strikes as the U.S.-led offensive expands into a wider regional war.
The comments come after Prime Minister Mark Carney left the door open to participating in the escalating situation in the Middle East if Canada’s allies need help.
Gen. Jennie Carignan, chief of the defence staff, made it clear that Canada is not participating in Operation Epic Fury, the joint Israeli-U.S. attack on Iran that began six days ago, but stressed the situation is “quite dire and dangerous for the Gulf states.”
On the sidelines of a defence conference in downtown Ottawa on Thursday, the top military commander said “our Gulf partners may require defence and support” and “this would be the type of military options that we could consider.”
Carignan said she’s speaking to European chiefs of defence staff Friday.
“This is the conversation we need to have with Gulf states partners and our European partners to see what we can do together,” she said, adding that could involve redirecting resources.
WATCH | General says Canada not joining U.S. attack on Iran:
Military commander says Canada not joining U.S. attack on Iran, may defend Gulf allies
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan said that Canada won’t be participating in the U.S. Operation Epic Fury in Iran. However, Carignan said, ‘our Gulf partners may require defence and support, so within that context this would be the type of military options we could consider.’
The military may also be called on to help get Canadians out of the volatile region, she said.
Carignan said Canada is in contact with allies to gather information and has deployed liaison officers in the Middle East “so we can be in a posture to plan and adjust to the situation over there.”
Earlier Thursday, the Department of National Defence said the Canadian military members serving on exchange with U.S. forces in the Middle East remain in their posts, but have been assigned “other duties” outside of the campaign against Iran.
Carney doesn’t rule out participation
Questions about Canada’s potential involvement have been percolating since Carney addressed a question during a news conference in Australia Thursday local time.
The prime minister was asked if he could definitively say Canada would not get involved militarily in the war.
“You’ve asked a fundamental hypothetical in a conflict that can spread very broadly,” Carney said.
“One can never categorically rule out participation. We will stand by our allies when it makes sense.”
Earlier in the week, the government said it had no plans to join the military campaign. In his latest update, the prime minister drew a distinction between the ongoing offensive launched by the United States and Israel against Iran and the Islamic republic’s retaliatory strikes.
“We’re not party to those actions,” he said of the U.S.-Israel operation. “We will always defend Canadians and we will always stand by and defend our allies when called upon.”
WATCH | Carney won’t ‘categorically rule out’ military action:
Carney won’t ‘categorically rule out’ Canadian military action in Middle East conflict
Asked whether he would rule out Canada’s participation in the Middle East conflict if hostilities broaden or escalate, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would ‘stand by our allies when it makes sense.’
If that day comes, Conservative defence critic James Bezan called for a public, transparent debate in the House of Commons.
“It should be up to Parliament itself to say yea or nay on whether or not we’re ever going to be deploying our troops into a conflict,” he told The Canadian Press.
Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong accused Carney of contradicting himself and holding an “utterly incoherent position on Iran over the past few days.”
Over the weekend, Carney originally expressed support for the U.S. launching strikes on Iran.
A few days later, he added that his government takes that position “with regret because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order,” adding that his support for the U.S. strikes is not a “blank cheque.”
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet called Carney’s comments about hypothetical Canadian involvement premature and ill advised. He also said Tehran’s nuclear threat needs to be neutralized, but within international law.
Wendy Gilmour, a former assistant secretary general for defence investment at NATO, called Carney’s comments “pragmatic” given the fast-evolving situation.
“It’s important that countries’ responses and Canada’s response remain flexible to deal with the conditions,” she said, adding a hypothetical Canadian response would be “through the lenses of our alliance.”
No talk of triggering Article 5: Rutte
Under Article 5, the cornerstone of the NATO alliance, an armed attack against one member country is considered an attack against the others.
Carney’s most recent comments on the conflict came after a ballistic missile headed for Turkey was shot down using NATO air defences. Iran denied it was behind the launch, saying it respects the sovereignty of “friendly” Turkey — a NATO member.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday the alliance does not plan to trigger the mutual defence clause over the shooting.
He called the incident serious but said “nobody’s talking about Article 5.”
“The most important thing is that our adversaries have seen yesterday that NATO is so strong and so vigilant,” he said.
WATCH | Carney defends not calling for de-escalation earlier:
Carney defends not calling for de-escalation in Iran conflict earlier
“We absolutely stand by the fundamental principle that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and to continue to be a serial violator of international law,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, defending his choice to not call for de-escalation sooner.
If a NATO territory is attacked “then Canada would obviously be part of that response,” said Gilmour, “whether it’s direct military engagement or simply our support for NATO institutions and the NATO enterprise as it evolves.”
Some of Canada’s European allies have been drawn into the war as airstrikes hit countries including Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Thursday that the U.K. sent four additional Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar meant to help the Gulf state defend itself against Iranian missiles and drones.
And Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands said they will send naval assets to shore up the Red Sea after a drone strike hit a British air base in Cyprus on Monday.
