Esmail Baghaei is an Iranian diplomat and the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Iran He began his duties 3 October 2024, and is the 14th person appointed to the position, having succeeded Nasser Kanaani . He has previously served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office in Geneva from 2018 to 2022. He is a PhD. candidate in public international law at the University of Tehran , and first began his career at the Foreign Ministry in 2001 as a legal officer at the General Directorate for International Legal Affairs.