The Canadian Armed Forces has joined its NATO allies in withdrawing military personnel from Iraq amid the ongoing Iran war, Defence Minister David McGuinty confirmed Friday.
NATO’s top commander, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, confirmed earlier Friday that the alliance has pulled several hundred personnel out of Iraq and relocated them to Europe. They were part of NATO’s security advisory mission established in 2018 to advise Iraqi defence and security officials.
“As part of this adjustment, the Canadian Armed Forces personnel and Canadian civilians deployed with the NATO Mission Iraq have been relocated to a secure location and are safe and accounted for,” McGuinty said in a statement provided by his office.
Grynkewich said the mission will continue its work from Joint Force Command Naples.
The move came after a string of Iranian attacks on other troops at British, French and Italian bases in Iraq, as Tehran steps up its attacks on neghbouring Gulf Arab states in retaliation over U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that began three weeks ago.
Attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure have increased after Israel bombed Iran’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field earlier this week. Kuwait and Bahrain reported new strikes on Friday.
Late Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media that his administration was considering “winding down” military operations in the Middle East.
Trump said in his Truth Social post that the U.S. was “getting very close to meeting our objectives” for the war, including degrading Iran’s military, naval, missile and nuclear capabilities.
However, Reuters and the Associated Press reported Friday that the U.S. was sending 2,500 additional Marines to the Middle East, along with at least one amphibious assault ship. The reports cited U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, and Global News has not independently verified the additional deployments.
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The Trump administration has also requested another US$200 billion from Congress to fund the war.
Trump’s statement also left a muddled picture of whether the U.S. would police the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane. Trump had said this week that the U.S. didn’t need help, while also complaining that other countries did not help.
“The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!” he wrote.
“If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them.”
Earlier Friday, Trump wrote on social media that NATO allies were “COWARDS” for previously refusing his calls for help in the Strait, adding the U.S. “will REMEMBER!”
Canada on Thursday joined the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan in a statement saying they were willing to “contribute to appropriate efforts” to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The nations did not say what specific action might be taken.
McGuinty has left the door open for the Canadian military to help neighbouring countries defend themselves from Iranian attacks, if they seek assistance from the NATO alliance.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s office said Friday that any potential support from Canada would be guided by local needs, as well as Canada’s laws and policies, and consultations with partners and allies.
Her spokesperson said Canada is still focused on diplomacy to lower tensions, and to stop attacks by all players on energy infrastructure.
The Canadian Armed Forces has had no involvement at all in the current war and no Canadian military members were involved in its planning, the Department of National Defence says.
The department said that, based on numbers from March 5, the Canadian Armed Forces has roughly 200 personnel deployed across the Middle East in six separate operations.
Some military members have been relocated within the region or redeployed back to Canada. The department says it will not disclose more detailed personnel numbers at specific locations for security reasons.
The department also confirms that nearly three dozen Canadian military members on an exchange with a division of the U.S. air force were not deployed to the Persian Gulf region.
The department said 35 Canadian Armed Forces members are currently serving in some capacity with the 552nd Air Control Wing’s Canadian Detachment, but have not left the U.S. for operations in the Gulf.
The American wing, based out of the Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, has deployed six Boeing E-3G Sentry AWACS surveillance aircraft to an airbase in Saudi Arabia.
—with files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press
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