MUMBAI — Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada supports the U.S. action in Iran after the American and Israeli militaries launched an attack on the Middle Eastern country overnight.
Speaking in Mumbai, 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.
“Canada stands with Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against this oppressive regime and we reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Iranian media has reported strikes nationwide, with some of the first strikes appearing to hit areas around the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 86-year-old leader was in his offices at the time of the strike.
Carney urged Canadians in Iran to shelter in place.
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. But he said he does not expect that Canada will become directly involved in the military operations.
“We have not been party to the military buildup to this, or the military planning of this, so it is not envisioned that we would be part of it moving forward,” the prime minister said during a forum on Canada-India economic relations.
An earlier statement from Anand said Canada’s ability to help those in Iran would be limited.
“There is no Canadian embassy in Iran and our ability to provide consular services is extremely limited, especially during an active conflict,” she said in her statement.
She 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.”
Carney said he expects there will be an impact on oil prices when asked in India about the potential financial impact of the hostilities. But he said the issue is 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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2026.
— With files from The Associated Press
Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
