Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei spent part of his Sunday doing what diplomats do best: pulling receipts. After Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Tehran of attacking commercial vessels in the Gulf, Baqaei fired back on X, dragging President Donald Trump into the argument by reminding everyone of some rather colorful comments the president made earlier this year.

Iran Says Trump Boasted About Seizing Ships

Baqaei took issue with Rubio equating Iran with the "pirates of the Caribbean," and with the secretary's claim that vessel strikes of this kind haven't been seen since World War II. Then he got to the good part.

He pointed to comments purportedly made by Trump in May this year. "We're like PIRATES. We're sort of like PIRATES," he quoted Trump in his post.

"Perhaps the president won't be too pleased to learn that his secretary of state has so quickly forgotten his own proud claim of being like pirates," the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

In the same post, Baqaei laid out the contrast directly: "Marco Rubio, accusing Iran of attacking ships، said: 'We haven't seen anything like this since World War II and the pirates of the Caribbean.' U.S. President, on 1 May 2026, boasting about seizing commercial ships and confiscating oil cargoes: 'we're like PIRATES. We're sort of…'"

Ship Attacks Escalate in the Middle East

The rhetorical sparring comes as things get more concrete on the water. Recently, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO) released a report saying that a ship had been targeted in the Gulf of Oman, beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Obsidian Risk Advisors' Managing Principal Brett Erickson, this signalled that Iran was "taking it easy" on Trump and that it had capabilities to strike ships beyond the Strait of Hormuz.

Notably, Iran's Persian Gulf and Strait Authority said it had added 122 vessels to its "non-compliance list" for the Strait of Hormuz, citing violations of its transit requirements.

Oil is Moving Out of the Middle East

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a post on X, reiterated that oil was moving out of the Middle East despite Iran's threats to thwart energy flows out of the region. Bessent said that roughly 18 to 19 million barrels of oil per day were moving out of the region through the end of September 2026.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures contracts ending in December 2026 declined 1.97% to $101.24 at press time. Brent futures contracts ending in December also slipped 1.56% to $109.96 at press time.

Amid falling crude oil prices, the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) slipped nearly 2% to $166.2 during the overnight trading session. The ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSE:UCO) ETF declined 2.71% to $64.32.