Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described the expanding Iran war as a “failure” of the international system, yet he declined to rule out the possibility of Canada joining the conflict.

When asked if his country would provide military assistance, Carney stated: “One can never categorically rule out participation. We will stand by our allies.”

Speaking with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a joint press conference in Canberra on Thursday morning (local time), the Canadian leader noted a distinction between unconsulted offensive actions (as he put it) and his nation’s broader alliance commitments.

He said: “There’s a distinction between the offensive actions that were taken and are being taken by the United States and Israel without consultation with Canada and other allies. We’re not party to those actions. We will always defend Canadians and we will always stand by and defend our allies when called upon.”

Carney’s comments mirrored a statement he made the previous day, in which he condemned the manner in which the [missing event] that killed Iran’s [missing figure] was launched and criticized Washington for failing to coordinate with allies and international bodies.

He stated: “We support efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” [missing verb]. “We do, however, take this position with regret, because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order.”

Carney added: “We condemn the strikes carried out by Iran on civilians and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East, and we implore all parties, including the United States and Israel, to respect the rules of international engagement.”

Carney’s latest remarks on the “failure” of the international order [missing verb] his statements from his address at Davos earlier this year, where he described a “rupture” and said the old world order was “not coming back.”

Albanese has also joined calls for de-escalation, but reaffirmed his support for the stated objective of the military campaign.

He said: “The world wants to see a de-escalation and wants to see Iran cease to spread the destinations of its attacks. I want to see the possibility of Iran getting a nuclear weapon removed, once and for all… I also want to see a removal of the ongoing threat that has been there for such a long period of time.”

In Europe, meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has [missing verb] that the strikes undermine international norms.

But President Donald Trump [missing verb] the military action during a roundtable with business leaders on Wednesday, insisting the strikes were necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

He stated: “If we didn’t hit within two weeks, they would have had a nuclear weapon… When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen.”

During the same meeting, however, Trump offered a slightly different rationale, repeating his earlier explanation that the military action was taken as a pre-emptive measure.

He said: “I think if we didn’t do it first, they would have done it to Israel and give[n] us a shot, if that was possible,” amid concerns the Trump Administration is [missing verb] to settle on a definitive rationale for the war.