(CNN)-- Iran's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of committing what it called 'war crimes' for targeting civilian infrastructure in the strikes it launched on Iran, while it justified its attacks on neighboring Arab countries in the Gulf, describing them as acts falling under 'self-defense'.

The ministry said in a statement issued Thursday that the United States committed 'many war crimes, particularly by targeting civilian facilities and infrastructure.'

The statement added that such attacks 'constitute a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the basic rules of international law.'

Iran's Foreign Ministry defended the strikes carried out by Iran against neighboring countries, describing them as 'defensive measures' and 'consistent with Iran's inherent and legitimate right to self-defense under international law and Article 51 of the UN Charter.'

The text did not mention the recent Iranian strikes targeting commercial shipping, or previous missile and drone attacks that hit residential buildings, hotels, civilian airports, and major energy and water facilities in several Gulf countries. These attacks included an incident on June 3 that targeted Kuwait International Airport, causing severe damage to a passenger terminal and resulting in one death and more than 60 injuries, as well as an attack late last month that the Bahraini Interior Ministry said caused severe damage to a residential building.

Iran's Foreign Ministry, in the context of its discussion of what it called 'war crimes' that it accuses the United States of, cited an airstrike carried out at dawn Wednesday on a mineral water production facility in Dehloran district near the border with Iraq, and a strike targeting a maritime navigation control center in the city of Chabahar in southeastern Iran, from Tuesday night until dawn Wednesday.

The statement concluded by saying that 'many other similar attacks fall within the war crimes committed by the American aggressors over the past week alone.'