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As American and Israeli war planes finished their first attacks against Iran over the weekend, carefully worded statements from Western allies started to roll out.
Iran “must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,” said a spokesperson for the British government. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he shared the U.S.’s interest in ending “this regime’s terror.” French President Emmanuel Macron insisted on diplomacy.
All said they weren’t involved in military action, but carefully skirted judgment of the legality of U.S. actions. No loud applause, no condemnation. Just “whispered warnings” about what it could spark, said French newspaper Le Monde.
Merz said it wasn’t his place to “lecture” U.S. President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Mark Carney seemed to side more with the U.S. and Israel on their mission in Iran, saying Ottawa “supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon” and from threatening international security. But he also insisted Canada was “not party to the military buildup or planning.”
WATCH | Carney on his support for U.S. strikes on Iran:
Carney declares support for strikes on Iran
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Canadian military will not get involved in the conflict in Iran, but did say he supported the U.S. airstrikes.
It turned into a coalition of the wary, much different from the “coalition of the willing,” formed two decades earlier to actively help then-U.S. president George W. Bush invade Iraq. Or the alliance that opted to send its tanks and planes to Afghanistan, including Canada.
Carney has been criticized for embracing the “weak” U.S. logic of preventative war by former Liberal foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy. In a newspaper opinion piece, he argues Washington does not have the legal right to attack Iran — that there was neither a UN mandate nor an immediate risk from Iran. And he says Carney’s support of the U.S. is “reckless.”
By Sunday, Germany, France and Britain had increased their condemnation of Iran’s strikes in the Mideast, calling them “appalling.” They agreed to “work together with the U.S. and allies in the region” to “defend [their] interests” against Iranian retaliation.
London would make its bases available to American forces in an effort to destroy Iran’s missiles and launchers, said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but purely as a “defensive operation.”
A person watches smoke rise above Tehran amid U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Sunday. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters)
Washington’s Arab allies have borne the brunt of Iran’s counterattack against nearby U.S. bases — leaving several dead and dozens injured — but they have so far refused to allow the facilities to be used for operations targeting Iran.
As for Iran, it has been firing back in words as well against what it calls American and Israeli “criminal aggression.” At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday, Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said his country is “exercising its inherent and lawful right of self-defence,” guaranteed under Article 51 of the UN charter.
That sparked an angry exchange with U.S. ambassador Mike Waltz, who insisted Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon is reason enough to justify an attack. “And to that end, the United States is taking lawful actions,” he said.
WATCH | Trump vows to fight Iran until ‘objectives are achieved’:
Trump vows to fight in Iran until ‘objectives are achieved’
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iranian authorities to lay down their arms and vowed to fight on until U.S. objectives in the country are reached — even if it means the death of more American soldiers.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres disagreed. He said the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes violated international law, including the UN Charter.
He continued to condemn Iran’s retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
It’s been two days of diplomatic language and cautious gestures that don’t seem up to the job of calming this conflict.
