Lebanon declares Iranian ambassador persona non grata amid Israeli attacks

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Lebanese Foreign Ministry summons envoy to Iran, citing breaches of diplomatic protocol by Tehran.

Lebanon ⁠has ⁠withdrawn accreditation from the Iranian ambassador ⁠and declared him ⁠persona non grata, demanding his departure from Lebanon ‌by Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

The ministry ⁠also summoned the ⁠Lebanese ambassador to Iran for consultations, ⁠citing what it ⁠described ⁠as Tehran’s violation of diplomatic norms and ‌established practices between the two countries.

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The decision comes as the Israeli army continues to attack Lebanon with air strikes and pushes forward with a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2, in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Lebanese authorities say at least 1,039 people have since been killed and 2,876 injured in Israeli attacks. More than 1.5 million Lebanese people have been displaced as Israel has ordered people to evacuate from the country’s southern region.

Citing the Lebanese Health Ministry, Zeina Khodr said on Tuesday that at least three people were killed in targeted assassinations overnight in Beirut.

“The Israeli military said it targeted members of the Quds Force, the foreign unit of Iran’s IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]. This is not the first time the Israeli army has claimed to target the IRGC in Lebanon,” she said.

“Iran did acknowledge that four Iranians were killed in a targeted strike at a hotel in the early days of the conflict. But they said they were civilians.”

The latest Israeli war comes as many of the more than one million people displaced during the 2023-24 war were not able return to their homes in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces continued to occupy Lebanese territory and continued its attacks, killing hundreds.

Hezbollah started cross-border attacks on Israel in October 2023 in solidarity with people of Gaza, which was under massive Israeli bombardment. Israel invaded southern Lebanon after almost a year of cross-border fire that resulted in displacement of thousands of people on both sides of the border. The fighting ended in a ceasefire in November 2024.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have further strained relations between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, which has resisted government’s attempt to disarm the group. The November 2024 deal required Hezbollah to disarm and Israeli military to vacate its positions from inside Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which was established in 1982 following Israeli invasion, has refused to lay down weapons demanding that Israel should leave the Lebanese territory first. The Iran-backed Hezbollah had honoured the 2024 ceasefire deal despite repeated violations by Israel.

The Lebanese government banned Hezbollah’s military activities on March 2.

Lebanon, which was weakened in the 2024 war, seem to have regrouped and mounted a fightback against Israel. It has fired dozens of rockets against Israel as another front has opened in US-Israeli war on Iran. Hezbollah is part of the so-called of “Axis of Resistance” backed by Tehran. Houthi group in Yemen and armed groups in Iraq are other members of the Axis.