Representative Nadim Gemayel called on the Lebanese state to resolve the issue of Iranian Ambassador-designate Mohammad Reza Shibani, demanding that he end his mission and oblige him to leave Lebanon as soon as his visa expires next Monday, without entering into any political bargaining or settlements.
Gemayel said, in a post on the “X” platform: “The state must end the Iranian ambassador’s mission and oblige him to leave Lebanon as soon as his visa expires, on Monday, without any bargaining or concessions, and confirm that its sovereign decisions are not the subject of negotiation or barter.”
Gemayel’s position comes three days before Shibani’s visa expires on August 24, in light of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates’ adherence to its previous decision not to accept his continuation in Lebanon in his diplomatic capacity, after the Lebanese state had withdrawn its approval on March 24 of last year to accept him as an ambassador to Iran and declared him “persona non grata.”
In March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially informed the Iranian Chargé d’Affairs in Beirut of the state’s decision to withdraw approval for Shaybani’s accreditation, and demanded that he leave Lebanese territory within a deadline set at the time, until March 29. Beirut also summoned its ambassador to Tehran, Ahmed Suwaidan, for consultations, against the backdrop of what it described as Iran’s violation of the norms and principles of diplomatic interaction.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry explained that day that the measure was taken based on Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows the host state to declare any member of a diplomatic mission as persona non grata, without that in itself being a severance of relations between the two countries.
According to the official Lebanese version, the decision came as a result of what the Foreign Ministry considered violations of the principles of diplomatic work, including statements by Chaibani that addressed internal policy and the decisions of the Lebanese government, in addition to his holding meetings with unofficial Lebanese parties without going through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which are practices that the Ministry said contradict Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, which obliges diplomats not to interfere in the internal affairs of the host state.
The file returned to the forefront strongly with the approaching expiration of Shibani’s visa, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Youssef Raji confirmed that the visa expires on August 24, and that his continued presence after the Lebanese state declared him persona non grata contradicts a clear and final sovereign decision. He stressed that the issue, from the ministry’s point of view, does not tolerate any settlement or diligence that would allow his continued presence in Lebanon after the expiration of the deadline.
This entitlement puts the relationship between Beirut and Tehran before a new diplomatic test, as the Lebanese Foreign Ministry is at the same time keen to separate its decision regarding Shibani from the future of diplomatic relations with Iran, and it had stressed when making the decision that the measure does not mean severing relations, and that Lebanon wants relations based on equality, mutual respect, and non-interference in internal affairs.
Relations between the two countries witnessed additional tension in March, after the Lebanese Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian Chargé d’Affairs and asked Tehran for written answers regarding a series of positions and statements, stressing its rejection of any interference in Lebanese internal affairs and its demand that relations between the two countries be based on equality and respect for sovereignty.
Nadim Gemayel’s position comes in the context of previous positions by him and the Phalange Party calling for more stringent measures regarding the Iranian diplomatic presence in Beirut, as Gemayel had previously called for decisive steps in this file and linked them to the principle of the Lebanese state restoring its decision, sovereignty, and the exclusivity of its foreign relations through its official institutions.
Thus, Monday, August 24, turns into a pivotal date in the file, with the expiration of Shibani’s visa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintaining its position, in exchange for anticipation of how Tehran will deal with the Lebanese decision and whether the file will be closed with his departure or will open the door to a new round of diplomatic tension between the two countries.
