Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke by telephone with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Monday to discuss urgent diplomatic steps intended to prevent the expansion of hostilities in the Middle East, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The official release said the two leaders "underscored the importance of intensifying diplomatic engagement to avoid a wider conflict with global consequences." It added that both condemned missile and drone attacks by Iran on Qatar and that Carney conveyed Canada’s solidarity with Qatar.
Carney’s office said the leaders reiterated the need, "in accordance with international law," for an immediate end to attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, warning that such strikes only serve to destabilize the region and worsen the global economic and energy situation. The statement noted that de-escalation of the Iran war was a topic of the discussion.
The statement's account situates the call amid a recent escalation in the conflict. It said the U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran on February 28, and that Iran responded with strikes on Israel and on Gulf states that host U.S. bases. The release also referenced statements about shifting objectives and timelines from U.S. President Donald Trump in the context of the war.
Casualty counts cited in the statement highlighted the human toll of the fighting. The non-profit humanitarian group Iranian Red Crescent Society was named as reporting that at least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran, including 175 schoolgirls and staff killed in a missile strike on a primary school in southern Iran. The statement also said the Iranian army reported that over 100 people were killed after a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka’s coast last week.
On the other side of the conflict, the statement recorded that Israeli tallies put civilian deaths in Israel at eleven, while the U.S. military has said seven of its service members have been killed.
The leaders’ exchange, as described by the prime minister’s office, focused on diplomatic measures and on urging an immediate cessation of attacks that affect civilians and civilian infrastructure, reflecting concern for regional stability and broader economic and energy ramifications.