Lebanon expels Iranian ambassador as war tensions mount

BEIRUT — Lebanon on Tuesday withdrew the accreditation of Iran’s ambassador to Beirut and declared him persona non grata in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two countries, which have worsened since the Iranian-backed Hezbollah launched its attack against Israel in support of Tehran earlier this month.

In a statement, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said Secretary-General Abdul Sattar Issa summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in Beirut, Tawfiq Samadi Khoshkho, to inform him of the decision against Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani.

According to the statement, Sheibani was ordered to leave Lebanon no later than Sunday, March 29.

Why it matters: The move comes as the Lebanese government increases pressure on Hezbollah and Iranian representatives in Lebanon after the Shiite paramilitary group began launching rockets toward Israel on March 2, in what it said was an operation to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The attack triggered a wide-scale Israeli escalation across Lebanon that has killed over 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million others so far.

In response to Hezbollah’s actions, the Lebanese state has slammed the group for dragging the country into a war in support of Iran.

“Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state, plunging it into aggression and chaos ... all for the sake of the Iranian regime’s calculations,” President Joseph Aoun said during a virtual meeting with top European officials on March 9.

On the first day of the hostilities, the government announced a ban on the group’s military and security activities, which it deemed illegal. A few days later, on March 5, the government also ordered the arrest of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operating in Lebanon.

On March 12, Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji summoned Ambassador Sheibani after Iran’s IRGC announced a joint operation with Hezbollah against Israel.

Speaking to the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel on Sunday, Prime Minister Salam said the IRGC is directing Hezbollah’s operations in its war with Israel.

Referring to a March 2 drone attack on a British base in Cyprus — suspected to have been carried out by Hezbollah from Lebanon — Salam said it was carried out by the IRGC, “which is present and, unfortunately, is managing the military operation in Lebanon.”

Background: Hezbollah, which was first established in the 1980s to fight the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, has since grown into the strongest non-state armed actor in the country, with unwavering support and funding from Iran, as well as training from the IRGC.

Tensions between Iran and Lebanon had already surfaced after the October 2023 war between Israel and Hezbollah that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November 2024. Lebanon had moved forward with a plan to disarm Hezbollah following US pressure. However, the group refused to surrender its weapons, citing what it describes as US and Israeli dictates, while Iranian officials have stressed the importance of Hezbollah’s arsenal in confronting Israel.

In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC threatened to launch violent attacks against Israel in support of Lebanon and Palestinians.

“We warn the criminal army of the regime that if the crimes against Lebanese and Palestinian civilians continue, the gathering places of enemy forces in northern occupied Palestine and the Gaza Strip will be subjected to heavy missile and drone attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the IRGC without any consideration,” the statement read.

Know more: Since March 2, the Israeli military has been carrying out intense airstrikes against what it says are Hezbollah targets in the group’s strongholds in the south, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

But it has also struck residential buildings in areas outside Hezbollah’s control, claiming to target Hezbollah and Iranian officials and operatives. On Monday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said airstrikes in Beirut hit a member of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force. Earlier, an Israeli precision strike hit an apartment in a residential building in the city of Hazmieh, near Beirut.

On March 3, the Israeli military said it killed Reza Khazaei, the chief of staff of Hezbollah’s Lebanese Corps within the Quds Force, who was responsible for coordinating weapons transfers from Iran to the group, in a naval strike in Beirut a day earlier.

This developing story has been updated since initial publication.