India, April 28 -- Iran on Monday (local time) condemned what it called "outright legalization of piracy and armed robbery" by the United States, referring to the recent seizures of sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian oil by the US forces in the Indian Ocean.

Referring to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Ferris Pirro's days-old post regarding the US forces interdicted the "dark fleet vessel" M/T Majestic on Thursday last week, Iran's foreign ministry official Esmaeil Baqaei equated the move to the "return of the pirates".

"This is the outright legalization of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas," Baqaei, who is the head of Center for Public Diplomacy of Iran, wrote in a post on X.

"Welcome to the return of the...