Lebanon withdraws Iran envoy's accreditation, orders him to leave
Lebanon's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had withdrawn its approval of the Iranian ambassador's accreditation, giving him until Sunday to leave the country.
The ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Lebanon and informed him of "the Lebanese state's decision to withdraw approval of the accreditation of the appointed Iranian ambassador, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, and declare him persona non grata, demanding that he leave Lebanese territory no later than next Sunday".
The ministry said it had also summoned Lebanon's ambassador to Iran "in light of what the Lebanese state described as Tehran's violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries", after Beirut accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards of commanding Hezbollah's operations in its war against Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed on Tuesday Lebanon's decision to expel the Iranian ambassador as a "justified and necessary step" and urged the government to take steps against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
"We call on the Lebanese government to take practical and meaningful measures against Hezbollah, whose representatives still serve as ministers within it," Saar said in a post on X. Lebanon's health minister, Rakan Nassereddine, and labor minister, Mohammad Haidar, are Hezbollah-affiliated.
Source: Agence France Presse
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