Lebanese Government Expels Iranian Ambassador

March 31, 2026

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In Lebanon, the government has decided finally to take on Hezbollah, and to disarm it forcibly. It is tired of Hezbollah acting as a state within a state, constantly dragging the country into hostilities with Israel that always end with tremendous damage to the country’s infrastructure. Not only Lebanese Christians and Muslims, but many Shi’a, too, want Hezbollah’s military wing to be shut down. Both Lebanon’s President, Joseph Aoun, a Maronite, and its Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, a Sunni Muslim, are determined to bring Hezbollah to heel. And Hezbollah can no longer receive weapons from Iran; the route through Syria is now closed; Syria itself is now run by a Sunni Muslim, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who hates the Shi’a regime in Iran that propped up Bashar Assad during the Syrian Civil War when al-Sharaa and his fighters in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham were doing their best to topple him.

Lebanon is now determined to keep Iranian officials and military men out of their country, so that they cannot provide assistance, including money, to Hezbollah. Beirut has now declared the Iranian ambassador to be persona non grata, and demanded that he leave within a few days. More on this latest sign of Lebanon’s determination to take on Hezbollah and remove its backer, Iran, from the country, can be found here: “Lebanon declares Iran’s ambassador-designate persona non grata, gives him until Sunday to leave,” by Danielle Greyman-Kennard, Jerusalem Post, March 24, 2026:

Lebanon declared Iran’s ambassador-designate Mohammad Reza Sheibani persona non grata on Tuesday, giving the appointed figure until Sunday to leave the country, the Lebanese foreign minister announced.Lebanon’s foreign ministry summoned the Lebanese ambassador to Iran for consultations, citing what it described as Tehran’s violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries.“I instructed today the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to summon the Iranian Chargé d’Affaires in Lebanon to inform him of the decision to withdraw the agrément for the designated Iranian Ambassador, Mohammad Reza Shibani, declare him persona non grata, and request that he leave Lebanese territory no later than 29 March, 2026,” Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi confirmed.Sheibani was only appointed to the role in February and had not yet presented his credentials, though he had served in the same role in the 2000s.Lt.-Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, the founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, who previously complained to The Jerusalem Post about Lebanon’s inaction against Hezbollah, said the latest move could lay the foundation for trust needed with Jerusalem for direct talks….

At long last, Lebanon is blaming not Israel, but Hezbollah, and behind Hezbollah, Iran, for the country’s woes. Behind every conflict that Lebanon has been unwillingly drawn into is Hezbollah, that keeps launching its ever-diminishing supply of missiles and drones into Israel. The IDF then answers these attacks, to devastating effect. But now the atmosphere in Lebanon is openly hostile to Hezbollah. The terror group is no longer the formidable force it once was. It has lost thousands of operatives, and 4,000 more have been so severely wounded from the “exploding pagers” that they are no longer fit for fighting. The IDF has now destroyed 80-90% of Hezbollah’s arsenal of missiles and rockets. And Hezbollah can no longer be readily re-supplied with weaponry by Iran, both because the route through Syria for the delivery of Iranian weapons is now sealed off by the Sunni government in Damascus, and because Iran, its military having been battered for a month by both Israel and the United States, no longer has any weaponry to spare.The expulsion of Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon is a final blow, a sign that the Lebanese will no longer tolerate the presence even of Iranian diplomats, known to be providers of money, help with logistics, and weapons smuggled in through diplomatic pouches. Hezbollah can no longer stage those massive rallies through the center of Beirut. Iran has made enemies throughout the region, having launched missiles at every one of its Arab neighbors. Not so long ago, Iran was busy creating what was feared could become a “Shi’ite crescent” capable of battering Israel. Now it is the IDF, and the American military, that are striking Iran at will, and Iran that fights alone.

Photo: Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani, راغب عزام, Creative Commons

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