Iran's envoy in Lebanon to remain in Beirut despite being declared 'persona non grata'

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stressed the expulsion of Iran's envoy ‘will not pass’ and demanded Beirut cancel its decision  

News Desk - The Cradle

The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on 30 March that its ambassador to Lebanon will remain at his post, several days after Beirut issued a decision to expel the envoy. 

“Considering the discussions raised by the relevant Lebanese ‌parties and ⁠the conclusions reached, the Iranian ambassador will continue his work as ambassador in Beirut and is still present there,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said.

Diplomatic sources told AFP that the Iranian envoy “will not leave Lebanon, in accordance with the wishes of the speaker of parliament Nabih Berri and of Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah and the Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, who also serves as the head of the Amal Movement, rejected the Lebanese Foreign Ministry's decision to expel Iran’s ambassador. 

Amal Movement and Hezbollah MPs boycotted parliamentary sessions last week when the decision was made. “This cannot pass,” Berri was quoted as saying by Al-Joumhouria newspaper, demanding “the cancellation of the decision to expel the ambassador and nothing less than that.”

“No one should talk to me, go and deal with the crisis, the solution is clear,” he added. 

The Lebanese decision, which gave ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani until 29 March to leave the country, cited what Beirut claimed was a “violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries.”

The envoy was also declared “persona non grata.”

The decision will reportedly not materialize after Berri’s intervention. Lebanon has not issued another official statement since the deadline for the ambassador to leave expired on Sunday. 

The Amal Movement reportedly told the Iranian ambassador to reject the Lebanese Foreign Ministry's decision. 

Days before Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji announced the move, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of “managing” Hezbollah’s military operations.

Over the past year and a half, Lebanon’s government has used increasingly charged rhetoric against the Islamic Republic, under heavy pressure on Beirut regarding Hezbollah and its weapons.

The Lebanese resistance and the IRGC have been carrying out joint rocket and missile operations since Hezbollah joined the war on 2 March, responding to over a year of Israeli ceasefire violations, following the assassination of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

An industrial building and fuel tanker at the Bazan Oil Refinery in Haifa were struck during a joint rocket and missile attack launched by Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic on 30 March, resulting in a large blaze.