In an official statement on Tuesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants announced that it summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Lebanon, Toufic Samadi Khoshkou.
He was received by Secretary-General Ambassador Abdel Sattar Issa, who conveyed the Lebanese state’s decision to withdraw its approval of the appointment of Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani and to declare him persona non grata, requesting that he leave Lebanese territory no later than Sunday, March 29, 2026.
In the same context, the Ministry also summoned Lebanon’s Ambassador to Iran, Ahmad Sweidan, for consultations, citing what the Lebanese authorities described as a breach by Tehran of established diplomatic norms and conventions governing relations between the two countries.
The move follows rising tensions between Beirut and Tehran. Ten days earlier, Information Minister Paul Morcos said Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had instructed Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji to summon Iranian diplomats after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed a joint military operation with Hezbollah against Israel.
Lebanese officials considered the statement a breach of diplomatic norms, foreshadowing the latest escalation.
Israel’s foreign minister welcomed Lebanon’s decision to expel Iran’s ambassador and called for further action against Hezbollah. “I welcome the decision… to expel the Iranian ambassador-designate from Lebanon,” Gideon Sa’ar said on X. He described the move as a “justified and necessary step.”
Sa’ar also urged the Lebanese government to take more meaniful steps against Hezbollah, noting that the militant group’s representatives remain in government.
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