Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi announced on Tuesday that he had revoked the approval of Iran’s designated ambassador to Lebanon and ordered him to leave the country within five days.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed the move, writing on X that it was “a justified and necessary step against the state responsible for violating Lebanon’s sovereignty, for its indirect occupation through Hezbollah, and for dragging it into war. We call on the Lebanese government to take practical and meaningful measures against Hezbollah, whose representatives still serve as ministers within it.”
Raggi said in an earlier post on X that he had instructed the ministry’s secretary-general to summon Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Beirut to convey the decision.
Mohammad Reza Shibani, who had been nominated as Tehran’s ambassador, was declared persona non grata and must depart Lebanon by March 29, according to Raggi.
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…
— Youssef Raggi (@YoussefRaggi) March 24, 2026
Tehran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah began firing rockets and suicide drones at Israel on March 2, in retaliation for the Jewish state’s targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was killed in the opening strikes of “Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury” against the regime on Feb. 28.
In response to the terrorist organization’s violation of the U.S.-brokered Nov. 27, 2024, truce agreement, Jerusalem launched an aerial campaign against Hezbollah and ordered IDF troops to advance and take control of additional areas in Southern Lebanon to halt cross-border attacks.
