"Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney refused to rule out Canada join the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, alleging the conflict could ‘spread very broadly’, at a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, on Thursday in Canberra. “You've said that Canada will not participate in US military action in Iran. So can you definitively say that's going to remain the case even if hostilities broaden, escalate, or are prolonged?” a journalist asked. “There's a distinction between the offensive actions that were taken and are being taken by the United States and Israel. That were taken by them without consultation with Canada, with other allies. And we're not party to those actions, but we will always defend Canadians. We will always stand by and defend our allies when called upon,” Carney said. Although both Australian and Canadian leaders called for the de-escalation of the conflict, they insisted that, first, the ‘objectives’ of the US-Israeli operation against Iran should be achieved. “While we want to see a broader de-escalation of these hostilities with a broader group of countries than just the direct belligerence involved, we recognise, 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,” Carney said. Iran repeatedly denied obtaining or seeking nuclear weapons as ‘big lies’, claiming its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes. On Monday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, confirmed that there is no evidence of Iran planning to build nuclear weapons. The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28. Tehran responded with strikes targeting Israel and US assets across the region, with explosions reported in several countries across the Gulf. The escalation followed several rounds of talks between American and Iranian officials aimed at addressing tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme - which Tehran has always insisted is peaceful."