Canada, Australia support Iran strikes, EU blames Tehran

The European Union’s top diplomat on Saturday condemned Iran’s regime in her first public comments on the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes there. Other world leaders, meanwhile, called for de-escalation and blamed Washington and Jerusalem for the hostilities.

Kaja Kallas, the E.U. high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, called the latest developments across the Middle East “perilous,” adding, “Iran’s regime has killed thousands. Its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, along with support for terror groups, pose a serious threat to global security.”

Kallas did not call for an end to the fighting, unlike French President Emmanuel Macron, who wrote on X: “The ongoing escalation is dangerous for all. It must stop.”

The European Union, Kallas said, “has adopted strong sanctions against Iran and supported diplomatic solutions, including on the nuclear issue.”

European Council President António Costa echoed Kallas’s remarks, but did not repeat the allegations against Iran.

“We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law,” Costa wrote in a statement.

Kallas, who did not condemn or criticize the U.S. and Israel for striking Iran on Saturday, said, “I have spoken to Israel’s Foreign Minister Saar and other ministers in the region. The E.U. is also coordinating closely with Arab partners to explore diplomatic paths.”

Protection of civilians and international humanitarian law “is a priority,” she said, but she did not call for ending the fighting.

Despite calling for a ceasefire, Macron did not blame Israel or the United States for the hostilities. “The outbreak of war between the United States, Israel and Iran carries grave consequences for international peace and security. At this decisive moment, every measure is being taken to ensure the security of our national territory, our citizens, and our interests in the Middle East,” Macron wrote on X.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country supports Washington’s actions to “prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.” He said Iran “is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East.” He did not call for a ceasefire or mention Israel.

A U.K. government spokesperson told Reuters that, while London does not want to see the conflict spread, “Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.” That is why, the spokesperson said, “we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution.”

The statement did not express approval of the strikes. “We stand ready to protect our interests,” the spokesperson said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that his country “supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” Albanese also said Australia stands with “the brave people of Iran” as they “struggle against oppression.” He did not mention Israel in his statement.

For decades, Albanese wrote, the Iranian regime has been “a destabilising force, through its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, support for armed proxies, and brutal acts of violence and intimidation.” Iran, he added, “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.”

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide singled out Israel and did not mention the United States in an email to AFP, the news agency reported. “The attack is described by Israel as a pre-emptive strike, but it is not in accordance with international law. A pre-emptive attack would require the existence of an imminent threat,” Eide is quoted as saying.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on X a post by one of its top diplomats, Mikhail Ulyanov, who wrote, “The new aggression of Israel and the U.S. against Iran is fraught with the danger of significant deterioration and destabilization in the Middle East.”

China, which has opposed the prospect of a U.S. military action in Iran, did not immediately comment on its launch.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East.”

He wrote on X that the “use of force” by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, as well as Iran’s retaliatory acts across the region, “undermine international peace and security.”

Guterres called on the international body’s member states to respect international law, urging “an immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation” and a return to the negotiation table.

Several Arab and Muslim-majority countries have condemned the Israel-U.S. action.

The prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, wrote on X, “The Israeli strikes on Iran, and the American military action that has accompanied them, bring the Middle East to the edge of catastrophe. Israel’s initiation of these strikes was a vile attempt to sabotage ongoing negotiations and to drag other nations into a conflict that could prove impossible to contain.”

Oman’s foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, wrote that, with the strikes on Iran, “Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined. Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this.”

Geert Wilders, the leader of the pro-Israel, anti-Islam Party for Freedom of the Netherlands, posted a picture showing Iranian leader Ali Khamenei standing next to Hassan Nasrallah and Qasem Soleimani. Israel killed Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, in September 2024. The United States killed Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, in 2020.

“Almost done,” Wilders wrote about the picture, which appears to have been generated by an artificial intelligence engine.