US President Donald Trump’s comments likening American naval operations to “pirates” amounted to a “damning” admission about Washington’s conduct at sea, a senior Iranian official said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the remarks appeared to confirm Tehran’s long-standing accusations that the United States has carried out 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’,” Baghaei 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.”

He called on the international community, including the United Nations and its member states, to reject what he described as efforts to normalise such behaviour, saying it constituted a clear violation of international law.

The comments followed remarks by Trump on Friday, in which he said US naval forces had seized a vessel along with 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,” Trump said, adding: “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates. But we’re not playing games.”