General Security renewed Mohammad Reza Sheibani's residency visa for six months on Monday, nine days after the Foreign Ministry declared him persona non grata and ordered his expulsion.
General Security Director Hassan Choucair on Monday renewed Mohammad Reza Sheibani's residency visa for six months, despite the Foreign Ministry's decision on March 24 to reject his diplomatic credentials and declare him persona non grata. Sheibani had been expected to leave Lebanon by March 29.
Lebanese Forces spokesperson Charles Jabbour described the move as a settlement reflecting state weakness. He said authorities should have expelled all embassy staff when Tehran refused to recall Sheibani, and cited the case as part of a broader pattern in which Lebanese institutions hesitate to enforce decisions that might provoke Hezbollah or Iran.
Constitutional lawyer Said Malek said Lebanon should not have allowed Sheibani to remain. He stated that the residency extension contradicted the Foreign Ministry's ruling and constituted a violation of Lebanese law, constitution and sovereignty that should trigger accountability.
A Foreign Ministry source said Sheibani was an IRGC member who had served in Syria during Iran's military intervention there. Following Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's 2024 assassination, Iran sought to expand military involvement in Lebanon and sent Sheibani to the country, the source said.
Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi had previously rejected any suggestion Sheibani could regularize his status after being declared persona non grata, calling the prospect a legal absurdity that contradicted international law and diplomatic norms.
Political analyst Ahmad Ayyash said the episode demonstrated Iran's disregard for Lebanese authority and what he described as Hezbollah's continuing influence over state institutions. He noted the continued presence of someone declared persona non grata would be unacceptable in any other country.
The dispute comes as Lebanon moves to place all weapons under state authority, following government decisions to ban Hezbollah's military activities and task the army with nationwide disarmament. Iran has strongly opposed the June 26 Trilateral Framework between Lebanon and Israel, which calls for Hezbollah's disarmament.
The U.S. sanctioned Sheibani on May 21. Last week Washington re-designated Hezbollah as an IRGC extension and this week imposed new sanctions on Iran.
