Canada and Australia leaders urge war de-escalation, but agree Iran can’t get nuclear weapons

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Canadian and Australian prime ministers on Thursday called for a de-escalation of the Iran war but added the Iranians must never gain a nuclear weapon.

Canada’s Mark Carney and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed the war during their meeting in Australia’s capital, Canberra.

The meeting came after news that a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s airspace.

“We want to see a broader de-escalation of these hostilities with a broader group of countries than just the direct belligerents involved,” Carney said at a press conference with Albanese.

“We stress that that cannot be achieved unless we’re in a position that Iran’s ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, develop a nuclear weapon, and to export terrorism, is ended. So that process must lead to those outcomes,” Carney added.

He said the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which were “showing tremendous restraint,” should become involved in the de-escalation process.

Albanese said: “The world wants to see a de-escalation and wants to see Iran cease to spread the destinations of its attacks.”

“We’re seeing Gulf states, that have not been involved, attacked across the board, including the attacks on civilian and tourist areas as well. But we also want to see the objectives achieved. I want to see the possibility of Iran getting a nuclear weapon removed once and for all,” Albanese said.

Questioned by a reporter, Carney could not rule out the Canadian military ever becoming involved in the conflict.

“You’ve asked a fundamental hypothetical in a conflict that can spread very broadly,” Carney said.

“So one can never categorically rule out participation. We will stand by our allies when it makes sense,” he added.

Carney is in Australia on a trade-focused, three-nation visit that began in India last week. He addressed the Australian Parliament on Thursday and will fly to Japan on Friday.