Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday doubled down on his call for Israel to pre-emptively strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying such an act would be “a gift by the Jewish state to humanity.”
Poilievre first voiced his support Monday at a commemoration event in Ottawa marking the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel. The ensuing conflict in the Middle East reached a new crescendo last week, when Iran — which supports Hamas and other proxy militant groups fighting Israel — fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel, which has vowed retaliation.
U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders have warned against striking Iran’s nuclear facilities over fears of further escalating the conflict into an all-out war between two of the region’s most well-armed nations.
Poilievre wouldn’t say if he disagrees with Biden’s assessment when asked by reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, but reiterated his belief that striking 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 about the most dangerous and irresponsible thing that the world could ever allow,” Poilievre said.
“If Israel were to stop that genocidal, theocratic, unstable government from acquiring nuclear weapons, it would be a gift by the Jewish state to humanity.”
Poilievre has long taken a hardline approach to Iran and has held it responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and overall violence in the Middle East, saying Tehran wanted to undermine peace talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
During his speech Monday, which followed an address by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Poilievre said Canada must support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and other regional threats, including “proactively striking Iranian nuclear sites and oil installations to defund the terrorist regime.”
“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 forbids the development, proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. But Iran’s intelligence minister has warned that stance could change if it was “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 began enriching uranium again after then-president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of an international agreement that limited Iran’s nuclear program in 2018.
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is running for president, said during an interview that aired on CBS’ 60 Minutes Monday that Iran was the United States’ greatest adversary, and that one of her “highest priorities” would be to ensure Iran “never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power.”
Israel is also widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, but there is no concrete evidence and the country has not acknowledged or denied their existence.
Following Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Oct. 2, Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said their goal was to ensure a wider war between Israel and Iran is avoided.
Defence Minister Bill Blair told reporters on Monday it would be “appropriate” for Israel to hit Iranian oil production facilities, but did not mention nuclear sites.
“When we talk about (Israel’s) ability to defend themselves, certainly that would include missile launch sites, military installations, airfields from which these attacks are being launched, but Israel has a right to defend itself against such attacks and diminish Iran’s capabilities of attacking,” he said.
Biden told reporters the day after Iran’s attack that “the answer is no” when asked about Israel hitting Iran’s nuclear facilities, and stressed the need for a “proportional” response. He said his administration would be in discussions with Israeli counterparts about what that response might look like.
Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen Pat Ryder said Monday that “we continue to discuss the next steps with Israel, to include steps that need to be taken to defend Israel,” while stressing the need to avoid further escalation. He said he would not “speculate” on a potential strike on nuclear sites.
Trump, however, said during a campaign event on Friday that Iran’s nuclear program “is the thing you want to hit” and that he disagreed with Biden’s approach.
“The answer should have been, hit the nuclear 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 against Israel that the U.S. will “continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran’s aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.”
Giora Eiland, a retired major general of the Israel Defense Forces, told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block that Israel might not necessarily go after Iran’s nuclear facilities, “which are well-protected.”
But he added: “Israel can cause real significant damage to Iran if we attack other possible targets.”
—with files from Saba Aziz