Esmaeil Baghaei
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.”
Al Arabiya English's report, published September 7, 2026, on the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson's press briefing that day. The English wording of Baghaei's remark is as published by Al Arabiya.
Why we used this label
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.