The Lebanese Foreign Ministry took a dramatic and unprecedented step on Tuesday and announced the expulsion of Iran’s new ambassador to Lebanon, declaring him a “persona non grata."
The director general of the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, Abd al-Star Isa, summoned the acting ambassador in Beirut, Tawfiq Samadi Khushko, and informed him of the decision to revoke the credentials of Iran’s ambassador, Mohammad Reza Shibani.
According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement in Beirut, the Iranian ambassador must leave Lebanon's territory by March 29 - this coming Sunday.
At the same time as the expulsion, Lebanon summoned its own ambassador in Tehran for urgent consultations, a step indicating a significant deterioration in relations between the two countries.
The official decision was explained as a response to what Lebanon described as “a blatant violation of the accepted norms and principles of diplomatic relations between the countries."