Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that if Iran had not responded to Israeli strikes this month, the situation could have escalated into a “full-scale and uncontrollable war in the region”, CNN reports.

In a video message to a conference in Belarus, he said, “The attacks carried out by the United States and the Zionist regime constitute a grave violation of all international norms and an irreparable blow to the integrity of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.”

“The Israeli assault occurred in the midst of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s nuclear program — a deliberate attempt to sabotage the diplomatic process,” Pezeshkian said.

He said that Israel had “killed outside of the norms of war”.

“They targeted university students and civilians. Many civilians were killed during this war. They hit residential buildings, hospitals, and places of work.”