TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the armed forces chief of staff has criticized Donald Trump for his past harsh words about confronting Iranian boats in the Persian Gulf.

The Thursday report quotes Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying, "The person who has recently achieved power, has talked off the top of his head! Threatening Iran in the Persian Gulf is just a joke."

He said American presidential candidates during their campaigns "eat too much sugar," a reference to a Farsi proverb about those who talk nonsense.

In September, Trump said Iranian ships trying to provoke the U.S. "will be shot out of the water."

In January, Iran took 10 American sailors prisoner ship veered off course into Iranian waters; they were released a day later.