Canada is urging de-escalation after Israel launched strikes against Iran on Thursday evening, with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand calling on all parties to “refrain from actions that further destabilize the region.”
“Further action risks triggering a broader regional conflict with devastating consequences,” Anand wrote on X on Friday morning.
In her post, she said Canada is closely following what is unfolding and that they remain “deeply concerned” about the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program.
That rapidly advancing nuclear program appeared to cause tensions to boil over leading to Israel’s strikes, which began on Thursday evening (early Friday morning local time), with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning of “severe consequences.”
According to Israel’s military, about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets, with the missiles hitting several sites, including Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz.
Israel said it had also destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran.
Among those killed were three of Iran’s top military leaders, one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami, and another who ran the Guard’s ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
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Iran has since confirmed all three deaths.
Tehran quickly retaliated after the Israeli strikes, sending a swarm of drones at Israel that both Jordan and Iraq confirmed flew over their airspace. Israel said the drones were being intercepted outside its airspace and that it was not immediately clear whether any got through.
Israel launches strikes on Iranian capital
Anand said Canadians in the region are being advised to exercise a “very high degree of caution,” monitor developments closely and follow the advice of local authorities.
Canada is not the only country to call for de-escalation, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoing similar comments Friday morning, urging all parties to “step back and reduce tensions urgently.”
“Escalation serves no one in the region,” he wrote on X.
U.S. President Donald Trump also commented on his social media platform Truth Social, urging Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear program, warning the Israel attacks would “only get worse.”
He did not say if he had been privy to specific Israeli plans, but said there was “still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.”
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,” he wrote. “No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stressed in a statement on X that Israel has the right to defend itself, including by disarming Iran’s nuclear program.
“We should all hope that this is the end of the regime’s nuclear program and that the great Persian people can now rise up to reclaim their country from the totalitarian regime,” he wrote.
Poilievre called on all levels of government to take extra steps to protect Canada’s Jewish community “from vile antisemites who may use these events as an excuse for more acts of violence.”
On Friday, the Toronto Police Service said in a post on X that it would maintain an increased police presence around places of worship and consular offices to ensure community safety.
Global News has reached out to several other police forces for comment on whether they will be increasing their presence at such locations.
FlightRadar24 shows numerous flights diverting from the region as both Israel and Iran closed their airspace until further notice.
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