Iran has said that remarks by President Donald Trump likening US naval operations to "pirates" amount to a "damning" admission of Washington's actions at sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Saturday that the US president openly described what Tehran considers unlawful seizures of Iranian vessels.
"The President of the United States has openly described the unlawful seizure of Iranian vessels as 'piracy,' brazenly boasting that 'we act like pirates,'" Baqaei wrote on X.
"This was no verbal slip. It was a direct and damning admission of the criminal nature of their actions against international maritime navigation."
Baqaei urged the world to firmly reject what he described as attempts to normalise the conduct.
"The international community, UN Member States, and the UN Secretary-General must firmly reject any normalisation of such blatant violations of international law," he said.
'We're like pirates'
Baqaei's comments came after Trump said on Friday that US naval forces had seized a vessel, its cargo and oil.
"We … land on top of it and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It's a very profitable business," he said.
"We're like pirates," he said. "We're sort of like pirates. But we're not playing games."
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
The war has raised oil prices and led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
