The federal government has outlined criteria under which Canada would help partners in the Middle East endangered by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n
Ottawa has said it is looking at helping Gulf nations and might contribute to efforts to unblock fuel shipments \u2014 but it hasn\u2019t explained what this might involve, beyond stressing that it has no intention of joining the U.S. military campaign.<\/p>\n
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand\u2019s office issued a statement late Thursday clarifying the conditions Canada would uphold.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny potential support would be guided by the needs on the ground, Canada\u2019s legal and policy frameworks, and ongoing consultations with partners and allies,\u201d wrote Anand\u2019s spokeswoman, Myah Tomasi.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain committed to advancing dialogue, lowering tensions, and ensuring the free flow of commerce that underpins global economic security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada has said repeatedly it wasn\u2019t consulted on the war and has no intention of joining it. Anand has called for diplomatic off-ramps to end a conflict which has caused global fuel prices to spike.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney endorsed a statement by allies \u2014 after it was released \u2014 expressing a willingness to contribute to efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded.<\/p>\n
Defence Minister David McGuinty added that Canada is \u201cconsidering\u201d helping Iran\u2019s neighbours defend themselves if they seek assistance from the NATO alliance.<\/p>\n
The Conservatives accuse the federal government of flip-flopping on Iran. Carney initially said he supported the U.S. bombing campaign before later adding that his support came \u201cwith regret\u201d as the strikes likely violate international law.<\/p>\n
The government insists it has maintained a consistent policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada will work with partners to support international stability,\u201d Tomasi wrote.<\/p>\n
She added that Ottawa is seeking \u201can immediate comprehensive moratorium on all attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations,\u201d in reference to the statement Ottawa joined Thursday.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Anand also wrote on social media that \u201cCanada is appalled by the Iranian government\u2019s execution of a Swedish citizen in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, she wrote that \u201cCanada condemns in the strongest terms Iranian missile and drone attacks targeting energy facilities across the Gulf region,\u201d including a strike on a major liquefied natural gas complex in Qatar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anand said before the war that Canada will not restore diplomatic relations with Iran until \u201cregime change\u201d occurs. The Harper government cut diplomatic ties in 2012.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government has outlined criteria under which Canada would help partners in the Middle East endangered by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-551140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}