In a post on his X account on May 1, Baqaei reacted to a recent US State Department statement describing the unprovoked military campaign against Iran as part of an ongoing armed conflict conducted in collective self-defense alongside the Israeli regime.

Questioning the legal basis of the US argument, the Iranian spokesman asked what alleged armed attack by Iran could possibly justify invoking self-defense, stressing that no such attack had taken place.

Baqaei asserted that the military action against Iran therefore could not be considered self-defense and instead amounted to an act of aggression against the Iranian nation.

“'Self-defense' against what? Was there any 'armed attack' by Iran to justify 'self-defense'?

Definitely not!” the Iranian spokesman said.

“So this was absolutely NOT 'self-defense' — it was an act of AGGRESSION against the nation of Iran,” he emphasized.

The US and the Israeli regime launched a large-scale unprovoked military campaign against Iran following the assassination of then Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, along with several senior military commanders and civilians on February 28.

In retaliation, Iranian Armed Forces launched attacks on American and Israeli positions in the region, demonstrating their capability to strike back effectively. Despite initial expectations by the attackers of a swift victory, the Iranian response proved significantly more potent, inflicting heavy damage on US and Israeli military resources while rallying the nation's unity and resistance.