Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday redoubled his call for Israel to preemptively strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying such an act would be “a gift from the Jewish state to humanity.”
Poilievre expressed his support for the first time on Monday at a commemoration event in Ottawa marking the one-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The ensuing conflict in the Middle East reached a new crescendo last week, when Iran – which supports Hamas and other allied militant groups fighting Israel – fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, which has vowed retaliation.
US President Joe Biden and other world leaders have warned against attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities over fears the conflict could escalate into an all-out war between two of the region’s best-armed nations.
Poilievre did not say whether he disagrees with Biden’s assessment when asked by reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, but he reiterated his belief that attacking the facilities would prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
“I think the idea of allowing a genocidal, theocratic, unstable dictatorship that is desperate to avoid being overthrown by its own people to develop nuclear weapons is the most dangerous and irresponsible thing the world could ever allow,” Poilievre said.
“If Israel prevented that genocidal, theocratic and unstable government from acquiring nuclear weapons, it would be a gift from the Jewish State to humanity.”
Poilievre has long taken a hardline approach toward Iran and held it responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and general violence in the Middle East, saying Tehran wanted to undermine peace talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saudi.
Receive the latest national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up to receive breaking news alerts delivered directly to you as it happens.
During his speech on Monday, which followed a speech by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Poilievre said Canada must support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and other regional threats, including “proactively attacking Iranian nuclear sites and oil facilities to defund the regime.” terrorist”.
“Israel must be able to prevent Iran from using nuclear weapons, if necessary,” Poilievre said.
A decades-old fatwa issued by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prohibits the development, proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. But Iran’s intelligence minister warned That stance could change if it were “cornered,” and there are fears within the international community that Iran could still use its nuclear program to produce such a weapon relatively quickly.
Iran enriched uranium again after then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of an international agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program in 2018.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president, said during an interview broadcast on CBS 60 minutes On Monday he said Iran was the United States’ greatest adversary and that one of his “top priorities” would be to ensure that Iran “never achieves the capacity to be a nuclear power.”
Israel is also widely believed to possess nuclear weapons.but there is no concrete evidence and the country has neither recognized nor denied its existence.
Following Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Oct. 2, Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said their goal was to ensure a broader war between Israel and Iran was avoided.
Defense Minister Bill Blair told reporters on Monday that it would be “appropriate” for Israel to attack Iranian oil production facilities, but did not mention nuclear sites.
“When we talk about (Israel’s) ability to defend itself, certainly that would include missile launch sites, military installations, airfields from which these attacks are launched, but Israel has the right to defend itself against such attacks and diminish Iran’s ability to attack. “, said.
Biden told reporters the day after Iran’s attack that “the answer is no” when asked about Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and emphasized the need for a “proportionate” response. He said his administration would be in talks with Israeli counterparts about what that response would look like.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday that “we continue to discuss next steps with Israel, to include steps that must be taken to defend Israel,” while emphasizing the need to avoid further escalation. He said he would not “speculate” about a possible attack on nuclear facilities.
Trump, however, said during a campaign rally on Friday that Iran’s nuclear program “is what they want to attack” and that he did not agree with Biden’s approach.
“The response should have been to attack nuclear power first and worry about the rest later,” he said, referring to how he felt Biden should have responded to reporters.
Harris said after Iran’s attack on Israel that the United States “will continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran’s aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.”
Giora Eiland, a retired Israel Defense Forces major general, told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview broadcast Sunday. The west block that Israel will not necessarily go after Iran’s nuclear facilities, “which are well protected.”
But he added: “Israel can cause really significant damage to Iran if we attack other potential targets.”
—with files from Saba Aziz
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
