Defence Minister Gallant assessed that “we are facing a new security era in which there may be a real threat to all arenas at the same time. We operated for years under the assumption that limited conflicts could be managed, but that is a phenomenon that is disappearing. Today, there is a noticeable phenomenon of the convergence of the arenas”. “Iran”, he continued, “is the driving force in the convergence of the arenas. It transfers resources, ideology, knowledge and training to its proxies… The increasing dependence [of the proxies] on Iran leads them to step over the boundaries and become more brazen”. Gallant further highlighted that “we continue to systematically damage Iranian assets and capabilities in the region. We will not allow Iran to establish an Iranian army in Syria, we will not allow the Golan Heights to become Lebanon, and we will not allow Syrian territory to be a springboard for advanced weapons heading to Lebanon... In the first quarter of 2023 we doubled the rate of attacks in Syria. We are systematically attacking [Iranian] intelligence and military capabilities”.