The ongoing conflict in the Middle East represents a failure of the international order, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday adding that the U.S. did not consult its allies before striking Iran.
U.S. and Israeli forces launched strikes against Iran on Saturday after negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program stalled.
The war has since spread beyond Iran's borders, with Iranian attacks hitting Gulf states including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as U.S. embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, prompting Washington to close diplomatic missions across the region.
"The current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order, despite decades of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency in a succession of sanctions and diplomatic frameworks," Carney said during a visit to Australia in a speech at the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney.
"Iran's nuclear threat remains, and now the United States and Israel have acted without engaging the U.N. or consulting with allies, including Canada."
Earlier, Carney called for calm in the Middle East and said all countries engaged in hostilities, including the U.S. and Israel, must respect international rules of engagement.
"Canada calls for a rapid de-escalation of hostilities and is prepared to assist in achieving this goal," Carney told reporters.
When asked about previous comments he made supporting the U.N. Charter's prohibition of the use of force, Carney said "it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law," but said it was up to the U.S. and Israel to make the case whether they were consistent with international law.
"It's for others more expert than me ... to make that determination," he said.
Carney said Canada was not informed in advance of the strikes and was not asked to participate.
"We would not have been in a position ... to take a judgment that met our standards if we had been asked to participate," Carney said.
After the strikes began at the weekend, Carney said Canada supported the U.S. "acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security."
