Carney and Albanese call for de-escalation while insisting Iran cannot have nuclear weaponpublished at 02:57 GMT
02:57 GMT
Helen Livingstone
Reporting from Sydney
Image source, Reuters
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney have called for deescalation in the Middle East while arguing a ceasefire should not happen until Iran is unable to develop a nuclear weapon.
“The world wants to see a de-escalation … We’re seeing Gulf states that have not been involved attacked across the board, including the attacks on civilian and tourist areas as well. We also want to see the objectives achieved,” Albanese told reporters at a joint press conference with the visiting Canadian leader in Canberra.
Carney echoed the Australian PM’s call for de-escalation.
“Right now we have a spreading of hostilities. We recognise that. And before we get there, there needs to be the ending of targeting civilians, civilian infrastructure. Those are necessary conditions before ceasefire can exist.”
Both leaders have expressed support for the Israeli-US strikes on Iran that began on Saturday.
Asked whether he had ruled out joining the attacks on Iran, Carney said he could “never categorically rule out participation,” drawing a distinction between offensive and defensive actions.
“We will always defend Canadians. We will always stand by and defend our allies when called,” he said.