TEHERAN - Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Friday the United States must be held accountable for its "direct involvement" in Israeli airstrikes on Iran in June.

In a post on X, Baghaei responded to remarks by US President Donald Trump, who on Thursday said he was "very much in charge of" Israel's initial attack on Iran, which contradicted Washington's earlier claims that Israel acted alone.

"Israel attacked first. That attack was very, very powerful. I was very much in charge of that," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Baghaei cited comments by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 13, when Rubio denied US involvement in the strikes and called them a "unilateral" Israeli action. Baghaei said that statement was "an outright lie."

"From the very beginning, it was clear that the United States was a full participant in Israel's crime of aggression against the nation of Iran," he said, calling for Washington to be held responsible for "this flagrant violation and atrocious wrong."

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Israel launched large-scale airstrikes on June 13 targeting several sites in Iran, including nuclear and military facilities, killing senior commanders, scientists and civilians, according to Iranian officials. Iran retaliated with waves of missile and drone attacks on Israel.

US forces later struck Iran's nuclear sites at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan on June 22, before a cease-fire between Iran and Israel took effect on June 24 after 12 days of fighting. 

Meanwhile, Baghaei on Friday strongly condemned Israel's recent "large-scale military aggression" against different regions in Lebanon.

He made the remarks in a statement released by the ministry hours after Israel's military launched a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Thursday, targeting what it described as "Hezbollah's military targets."

He said that Israel's military attacks against Lebanon since a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah came into force in November 2024 have killed and wounded over 1,000 innocent Lebanese citizens and destroyed infrastructure and residential areas, constituting a clear violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent state and a heinous crime against international peace and security.

At least one person was killed and three others were injured in Israel's Thursday airstrikes, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.