- Lebanon’s General Security granted six-month residence permit to Mohammad Reza Sheibani on August twenty-four, twenty twenty-six.
- Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said Sheibani’s persona non grata status requires him to leave Lebanon under international law.
- The dispute exposed a split between the Foreign Ministry and General Security over whether he could stay in Beirut.
Lebanon’s General Security granted Mohammad Reza Sheibani a six-month residence permit on August 24, 2026, even after Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji had declared the Iranian envoy persona non grata in March. The permit landed on the same day his original visa expired. It let him stay in Beirut instead of leaving. The move immediately exposed a split between a diplomatic order and an administrative decision. One branch of the state said he had to go. Another let him remain.
Reports described the new paperwork as a normal or courtesy residence arrangement, not as a diplomatic posting. It was issued to him as an Iranian resident in Lebanon, not as a diplomat with embassy privileges. That meant no diplomatic status or immunity followed the new paperwork. The visa decision also came through the security system, not the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic channel. It was a workaround, not a posting, and it sat outside the usual protocol for an ambassador.
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Rajji said the expiry left no room for argument. He put the position in writing on X.
“The expiry of Iranian Ambassador’s visa is not open to interpretation. His designation as persona non grata requires him to leave Lebanon and rules out any renewal of his visa or residency under international law. His continued presence in Lebanon is in direct violation of a final and binding sovereign decision by the Lebanese state.”
His message drew a hard line.
Lebanon had already withdrawn approval for Sheibani’s accreditation in March 2026. The state rejected the appointment then. Sheibani was Iran’s ambassador-designate to Lebanon, and he had served there from 2006 to 2009. Tehran still presented him as its envoy. Beirut did not. The dispute centered on a familiar face, not a new one.
The legal route ran through Article 21 of Legislative Decree No. 10188 of July 18, 1962. That provision lets the director general grant special residence permits. The official identified with the decision was Hassan Choucair, the agency’s director general. The paperwork moved through administrative authority, not the diplomatic channel. The Foreign Ministry and General Security landed on different readings. Each had papers. They pointed different ways.
Rajji said the paperwork had no legal basis
Rajji said the earlier approval lost force once Lebanon removed it. He argued that a visa or residence permit already granted to a diplomat stops having legal effect once the host state orders departure. He also called discussion of renewal 'a legal heresy.' The language was deliberate. It turned a visa dispute into a sovereignty fight. It left little room for compromise.
The split widened beyond the ministries
The split quickly widened beyond the ministries. Lebanese political coverage framed the case as a test of state sovereignty, not a routine paperwork dispute. Critics said the permit undercut the March decision and weakened the message that Beirut had already sent. Others saw it as a practical way to keep him in the country under resident paperwork. The controversy was about power, not only procedure. It also showed how one government can speak in two voices.
As of August 25, 2026, Sheibani had reportedly been allowed to remain in Lebanon for six more months. Rajji still called any discussion of renewal 'a legal heresy.'
