Carney talks de-escalation with Trump, as Belgian PM offers no sympathy for Iran

Murray Brewster · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 23, 2025 7:47 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

There was small sympathy for Iran and reluctant backing for authorities alteration among immoderate European leaders, following the play airstrikes by the United States connected Iran's atomic facilities.

On Monday, recently minted blimpish Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever described Iran arsenic an "evil regime" and a sponsor of coercion passim the Middle East and Europe.

He spoke to Canadian journalists pursuing a Second World War commemoration lawsuit astatine the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery, wherever helium and Prime Minister Mark Carney laid wreaths to retrieve the fallen.

Carney, successful a societal media station aboriginal Monday, said helium spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump overnight astir "de-escalating the struggle successful the Middle East." The 2 leaders talked astir the weekend's events and besides the upcoming NATO Summit.

De Wever, however, took a harder enactment and spoke astir a foiled Iranian-sponsored coercion plot, wherever the fishy was headed to Paris, but arrested connected Belgian ungraded — something that prompted retaliation from the authorities successful Tehran.

"Iran is the large sponsor of terrorism," De Wever said. 

"Without Iran, determination would have been nary Hamas. Without a Hamas, not a 7th of October. Without the 7th of October, [not] different warfare successful Gaza," helium said. "Without Iran, determination wouldn't beryllium Hezbollah, determination wouldn't beryllium Houthis. So it's a hard authorities to consciousness atrocious for."

Trump, successful a station connected his Truth Social media platform, suggested helium mightiness invited the toppling of the Iranian government, but insisted the play attacks — which saw the 3 Iranian atomic sites deed with missiles and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs — were not intended to bring astir "regime change."

For his part, De Wever said, arsenic a believer successful the regularisation of law, it's unfortunate that the concern has travel to a constituent wherever subject enactment was required to halt Iran's atomic program.

"It would beryllium champion if determination would beryllium a authorities alteration successful Iran, but … you would similar that it would beryllium a antiauthoritarian process oregon different process" that doesn't commencement with bombing, De Wever said.

'Within striking region of Europe'

One defence adept said that benignant of absorption shouldn't beryllium surprising, due to the fact that of the agelong past of hostility with the hard-line authorities successful Iran.

"I deliberation you mightiness person European leaders publically calling for restraint, but privately, precise astatine easiness that an extremist-led authorities that was wrong striking region of Europe wasn't capable to make up to 10 atomic weapons that they could mate with ballistic missiles and clasp Europe hostage," said Benjamin Jensen, a elder chap astatine the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies successful remarks made up of the U.S. strikes.

WATCH | The National breaks down the U.S. attacks connected Iran: 

Jensen cautioned, however, determination mightiness beryllium a bounds to the enactment of Trump's actions.

"If those attacks, though, dispersed to targeting leaders and a wider rollback of Iranian subject capability, it creates the hazard of second- and third-order effects that would truly origin interest successful Europe," helium said.

Indeed, portion Russia's absorption to its state and important weapons supplier being bombed has been constricted to rhetoric, the Kremlin drew a enactment astatine the conception of authorities alteration successful Tehran.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the conception of toppling the Iranian authorities arsenic "unimaginable" and "unacceptable."

Although Russia and Iran person a strategical partnership, there's nary nonstop subject enactment request built into the agreement.