Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued statements on Saturday morning supporting United States and Israeli military operations against Iran.
Carney’s statement began by advising all Canadians in Iran to “shelter in place,” and Canadian citizens across the Middle East to take “all necessary precautions” against Iranian retaliation.
“The Canadian government urges the protection of all civilians in this conflict. We will take all possible measures to protect our nationals and Canadian diplomatic missions throughout the region,” the statement said.
“Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons,” he declared.
“Despite diplomatic efforts, Iran has neither fully dismantled its nuclear program, halted all enrichment activities, nor ended its support for regional terrorist proxy groups,” he noted.
“Canada has listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity, and has sanctioned 256 Iranian entities and 222 individuals in response to the regime’s repression and its violence both against its own people, and persistently, beyond its borders,” he said.
“Canada reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and to ensure the security of its people,” he added.
Carney said Canada “stands with the Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against Iran’s oppressive regime.”
“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,” said Carney’s statement, which was also signed by Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand.
Albanese likewise said that Australia “stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against oppression,” and supports the United States “acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security.”
“Iran directed at least two attacks on Australian soil in 2024. These appalling acts targeting Australia’s Jewish community were intended to create fear, divide our society and challenge our sovereignty,” Albanese said.
Australian intelligence concluded that Iran was behind arson attacks against a kosher restaurant in Sydney in October 2024, and a synagogue in Melbourne two months later. Albanese denounced them as “extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil” when announcing responsive actions in August 2025.
“Australia took the unprecedented steps of expelling Iran’s Ambassador, suspending operations at our embassy in Tehran, and listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a state sponsor of terrorism,” he noted in his statement on Saturday.
“Our Government has sanctioned more than 200 Iranian-linked individuals, including more than 100 linked to the IRGC,” he added.
Albanese said Iran has ignored calls from the international community to “uphold the human rights and fundamental freedoms” of its citizens, and to halt its quest for nuclear weapons, which has been recognized as a “threat to global peace and security.”
“Given our concerns around security in the region, we have also upgraded Australia’s travel advice for Israel and Lebanon to Do Not Travel. Australians should leave now if it is safe to do so,” the statement cautioned.
The expressions of full support from Canada and Australia were a sharp contrast to the more tepid, or openly hostile, statements from European leaders.
For example, French President Emmanuel Macron said the “outbreak of war between the United States, Israel, and Iran carries grave consequences for international peace and security.”
Unlike Carney and Albanese, Macron did not express support for the U.S. and Israel, but he did chastise the Iranian regime, saying it “must understand that it no longer has any option but to engage in good-faith negotiations to end its nuclear and ballistic programs, as well as its actions of regional destabilization.”
“The Iranian people must also be able to build their future freely. The massacres perpetrated by the Islamic regime disqualify it and require that the voice be given back to the people. The sooner, the better,” he said.
Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on the other hand, was nakedly hostile to the United States and Israel, rejecting their “unilateral military action” as an “escalation” that would contribute to “a more uncertain and hostile international order.”
“We likewise reject the actions of the Iranian regime and the Revolutionary Guard. We cannot afford another prolonged and devastating war in the Middle East,” he added, demanding “immediate de-escalation” from all sides.
The European Union (EU) on Saturday called for all parties to “exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law.”
