Esmaeil Baghaei is an Iranian diplomat and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he also heads the Center for Public Diplomacy. He has held the spokesperson post since October 2024.
Case
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, citing no active shooting. President Trump defended the description; Sanders, Schumer and Massie criticized it, and Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the fighting aggression, not war.
Role at the time: Spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a press briefing
Response to this claim
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, saying there is no active shooting right now and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks.
“it is an overt military aggression against Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Baghaei disputes Vance's description and offers a different one, saying the fighting is an overt military aggression against Iran's sovereignty. He replaces the label rather than denouncing Vance's statement as such, so challenges the characterization fits better than condemns.
Statement dates: September 7, 2026
Statement dates: September 7, 2026
Statement dates: September 7, 2026
