Tehran [Iran], March 21 : As the conflict in West Asia enters its fourth week, Iranian academic Foad Izadi said more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in US-Israeli strikes and called the escalation an "unnecessary war" despite a diplomatic solution being available.
Speaking to ANI, Izadi, an Associate Professor at the University of Tehran, alleged that civilians were among the worst affected in the initial phase of the attacks.
"We have lost over 2,000 civilians, including 165 little girls, when their school was hit by American Tomahawk missiles on the first day of the illegal attacks. A diplomatic solution was available... This was an unnecessary war. Iran was not a threat to the United States," he said.
Izadi also referred to remarks by former US official Joe Kent, suggesting that Israeli pressure influenced Washington's decision-making.
"You don't have to take an Iranian professor's analysis; you can just read Joe Kent's resignation letter. He was very high-ranking Trump administration official who is saying that this is due to Israeli pressure. Israel, in order to dominate this part of the world, has been successful in using American soldiers to fight a war with Iran and it's causing a lot of difficulties for Iran," Izadi said.
Kent had earlier stated that Israel played a central role in the escalation. "The Israelis drove the decision to take this action, which we knew would set off a series of events because the Iranians would retaliate," he said during an appearance on the Tucker Carlson show.
On Iran's retaliatory strikes, Izadi described attacks on US bases in the Gulf as legitimate, claiming they were being used to launch operations against Iran.
"Initially, Iran just hit US military bases, which are legitimate military targets. The US is using these bases to attack Iran... Iran avoided hitting oil facilities until the other side started hitting Iranian oil facilities," he said, referring to strikes on the South Pars facility.
He added that attacks on energy infrastructure came only after Iranian sites were targeted. "Oil refineries are not normally legitimate military targets, but when they hit our side, then Iran has no other option but to do the same to the other side," Izadi told ANI.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington is not seeking a ceasefire at this stage of the conflict.
"We can have dialogue, but I don't want to do a ceasefire. You don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side... we're not looking to do that," Trump said outside the White House before departing for Florida.
Later, He also said that the United States is nearing its military objectives in the region, particularly in relation to Iran, and indicated that operations could "wind down" once those goals are achieved.