TEHRAN—Iran has issued a forceful condemnation of recent comments by former U.S. President Donald Trump and called on the United Nations to take action, escalating a war of words over contentious maritime operations in the Persian Gulf.
A Damning Admission
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, condemned Trump's remarks over the weekend, in which the former president described U.S. seizures of Iranian vessels as “piracy” and boasted that the U.S. Navy acted “like pirates.”
“This was no verbal slip. It was a direct and damning admission of the criminal nature of their actions against international maritime navigation,” Baghaei stated in a post on social media platform X.
Rising Tensions in a Strategic Waterway
The verbal exchange is the latest flare-up in a tense regional standoff. This followed the collapse of post-ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad in mid-April. In response, the United States imposed a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil chokepoint.
The blockade was enacted after a fragile ceasefire took hold in early April, ending 40 days of intense conflict that had seen direct strikes on Iranian soil and retaliatory missile and drone attacks by Iran targeting U.S. and Israeli assets in the Middle East.
Call for International Response
Baghaei urged the international community, UN member states, and the UN Secretary-General to “firmly reject any normalization of such blatant violations of international law.” His statement framed Trump's comments as an explicit justification of unlawful state conduct.
The situation underscores the ongoing volatility in the Gulf region, where geopolitical rivalries continue to threaten one of the world's most vital shipping lanes, with significant implications for global energy security and trade.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
