The leaders of Canada and Australia insist on escalating the war, but agree that Iran cannot acquire nuclear weapons

Melbourne, Australia — The prime ministers of Canada and Australia on Thursday called for an escalation of the Iran war but said the Iranians should never get a nuclear weapon.

Canadian Mark Carney and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed the war during their meeting in the Australian capital, Canberra.

The meeting came after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched by Iran before it entered Turkish airspace.

“We would like to see a broader escalation of this hostilities with a broader group of countries than the direct belligerents involved,” Carney said at a press conference with Albanese.

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

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

Albanese said: “The world wants to see de-escalation and Iran stop spreading its attack sites.”

“We are looking at the Gulf states that are not involved in attacks across the board, including attacks on civilian and tourist areas. But we 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.

When questioned by reporters, Carney could not rule out Canadian military involvement in the conflict.

“You’ve heard a basic fiction in conflict that can spread pretty widely,” Carney said.

“So no one can ever rule out participation. We stand by our allies when it makes sense,” he said.

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.