Iran on Saturday strongly condemned remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the seizure of Iranian vessels, describing the comments as an admission of unlawful actions against international maritime navigation.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X that the U.S. president had openly referred to the seizure of Iranian ships as “piracy.”
“The president of the United States has openly described the unlawful seizure of Iranian vessels as piracy, brazenly boasting that ‘we act like pirates,’” Baghaei wrote.
He added that the statement was not a slip of the tongue but “a direct and damning admission” of what he called criminal actions targeting international maritime operations.
The reaction came after Trump, speaking at an event in Florida on Friday, claimed that the U.S. Navy had acted “like pirates” during operations involving Iranian oil shipments.
“We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said.
Baghaei urged the international community, United Nations member states and the United Nations secretary-general to reject what he described as blatant violations of international law.
According to the report, the United States imposed a blockade linked to Iran on the Strait of Hormuz following unsuccessful negotiations held in Islamabad on April 11-12.
The report stated that a ceasefire between Iran, the United States and Israel took effect on April 8 after 40 days of conflict.
It further claimed that joint U.S.-Israeli strikes launched on February 28 targeted Tehran and other Iranian cities, resulting in the deaths of senior Iranian officials and civilians, after which Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israeli targets and U.S. military assets in the Middle East.