Strikes continued to escalate across the Middle East on Tuesday as the Iran conflict entered its fourth day.

At a glance:

• U.S. strike targets assembly selecting successor
• Oil prices continue to surge sharply
• Canada seeks Oman airspace to evacuate citizens
• More than 1,700 targets struck: U.S. army
• European nations send warship, jets to Cyprus
• Trump meets with German chancellor
• Exiled prince dismissed as successor: Trump

Explosions rang out overnight in Iran’s capital, Tehran, while Iran and its allies launched missiles and drones to hit back against Israel and targets in neighbouring Gulf states, including oil facilities and the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

The conflict has also reignited hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. With no clear exit plan, the stage is being set for a potentially prolonged conflict that could embroil the entire region in war.

Canada ‘not asked to participate’ in U.S. strikes: Carney

Speaking with reporters while in Australia, Carney said it appears the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran broke international law.

“We were not informed in advance, we were not asked to participate,” Carney told reporters. “Prima facie, it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law.”

This past weekend, Carney broke with most European allies by unequivocally endorsing American strikes on Iran, which have since been joined by Israel.

Some Liberal MPs challenged that move, saying Canada must stand up for the protection of civilians and territorial sovereignty even when it involves adversarial states.

All parties should respect ‘rules of international order’: Carney

In support of the Iranian people, Carney says Canada supports efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“Because Canada is taking the world as it is, not passively waiting for the world we wish to be,” he said.

He says Canada takes this position “with regret, because this current conflict is yet another failure of the international order.”

He says the U.S. and Israel have acted without consulting its allies.

“Canada reaffirms that international law binds all belligerence,” he stated.

He says that Canada condemns the strikes by Iran on civilians and civilian infrastructure, asking that all parties, including the U.S. and Israel, to “respect the rules of international order.”

Iran principal source of Mideast terror: Carney

Speaking from Australia, Prime Minister Mark Carney said: “Canada has long seen Iran as the principal source of instability and terror in the Middle East.” He continues to say that Iran and its proxies has murdered hundreds, “including Canadian civilians.”

Carney adds that despite decades of negotiations, Iran still hasn’t dismantled its nuclear program.

“Canada has long supported the imperative of neutralizing this grave global threat.”

Canada closely watched as conflict escalates: Mohamed Fahmy

An Egyptian-Canadian journalist says panic is spreading across the Middle East as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran escalates, with civilians in countries long considered safe now caught in the fallout.

“I’ve covered the region for the longest time, and I haven’t seen this kind of turmoil,” Mohamed Fahmy said in an interview with CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “This moment is a crisis that no one would have ever imagined.”

Amid the turmoil, Fahmy, who is currently in Egypt, said Canada is being closely watched.

“People here understand that Canada has always tried and has been taking a position where they’re not falling into Mr. Trump’s havoc, and how he’s approaching the region,” he said, adding Canada’s response to past tensions with Washington, including trade disputes, has shaped perceptions abroad.

“In this specific incident, everyone is trying to see what is Canada going to do next,” Fahmy said.

U.S. destroyed 17 Irani ships: military

The U.S. military has destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine, and struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran, the commander of the U.S. Central Command said on Tuesday.

“Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman,” U.S. Central Command’s Brad Cooper said in a video posted to X.

CIA trying to arm Kurdish uprising: CNN

The CIA is working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran, multiple people familiar with the plan told CNN.

The Trump administration has been in active discussions with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq about providing them with military support, the sources said.

Iranian Kurdish opposition forces are expected to take part in a ground operation in Western Iran, in the coming days, the senior Iranian Kurdish official told CNN.

“We believe we have a big chance now,” the source said, explaining the timing of the operation. The source added the militias expect U.S. and Israeli support.

The CIA declined to comment.

U.S., Israel control nearly all Iran’s airspace: Israeli diplomat

“I’m sure we will be able to show that superiority in the next few days,” Israeli ambassador Danny Danon told reporters at the United Nations.

He cautioned, however, that while U.S.-Israeli attacks have degraded Iranian capabilities and it’s harder for them to launch missiles, “they put missiles underground, in caves, in secret locations.”

He said Israel has told its own citizens and people in the region, “give us some more time” to further degrade the Iranian military and achieve its objectives: “no nuclear weapons, no missile threat, no terror infrastructure.”

“It will not continue forever,“ Danon said.

U.S. consulate in Dubai hit with drone attack

A drone attack caused a fire near the U.S. consulate in Dubai on Tuesday, a government statement said, a day after the U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by an Iranian strike.

“Dubai authorities have confirmed that a fire resulting from a drone-related incident near the U.S. Consulate has been successfully contained,” the official Dubai Media Office posted on X. “No injuries have been reported.”

U.S. doesn’t want ‘endless war’: Schumer

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the American people do not want an endless war.

“America wants (U.S. President Donald Trump) to pay attention to the problems at home, not the problems overseas,” Schumer told reporters Tuesday, adding “the administration doesn’t seem to know what’s it’s doing.”

He also said the administration has not offered a clear reason for the decision to attack Iran, saying “every hour there’s a different rationale as to why we’re doing this.”

Israel disabled around 300 missile launchers: statement

The Israeli military said Tuesday that its strikes had disabled around 300 missile launchers in Iran since the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on the Islamic republic over the weekend.

“This is the result of more than 1,600 sorties and a systematic, around-the-clock effort to locate and target launchers and missile stockpiles in order to reduce fire toward the Israeli home front,” the army said in a statement.

Trump says he ‘might have forced Israel’s hand’

When asked by a reporter if Israel forced his hand to get the U.S. to launch strikes against Iran, Trump said “no, I might have forced their hand,” contradicting previous reports from his administration.

Just yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. attacked Iran only after learning that Israel would strike.

“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio told reporters

However, Trump says failed negotiations with Iran is what prompted the U.S.’s pre-emptive strikes.

“You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack if we didn’t do it,” he said.

Based on how the negotiations were going, he said Iran was going to attack first.

“So if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”