Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that reviving the nuclear deal during his second term would have spared Iran the 12-day war with Israel and prevented the activation of the “trigger mechanism” at the UN Security Council.

In a speech to his advisors published on Thursday, Rouhani emphasized the need to return to negotiations with the West, especially European countries, stressing that removing the trigger mechanism from the Security Council’s agenda serves the interests of Tehran and the signatories of the nuclear deal and the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

He stressed in his final speech that if the nuclear deal had been restored, the benefits of the agreement would have been realized, the deal would have proven itself, and there would have been no “excuse for the 12-day war.”

The former president pointed out that obstructing the return to the deal in 2021 cost Iran nearly $500 billion in losses, adding that the opportunity still exists to negotiate with the “P5+1” group.

Attempts to revive the nuclear deal had stalled at the end of Rouhani’s term, despite Joe Biden’s arrival at the White House, as the US administration at the time conditioned Tehran’s return on first resuming its nuclear commitments.