‘Lebanon is an occupied state’: Israel’s FM Sa’ar blasts Beirut after Iranian ambassador ignores expulsion order

Last Sunday, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was supposed to leave the country after the government in Beirut declared him a “persona non grata” – but Mohammad Reza Sheibani refused to leave and is reportedly still holed up in the embassy building.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar seized on this incident to highlight the lack of authority the government is exercising in its own country, blasting Lebanon as a puppet state of the Iranian regime.

“This morning, the Iranian ambassador is sipping his coffee in Beirut, mocking the host ‘country’. Hezbollah ministers also continue to serve in the Lebanese government. Lebanon is a virtual state that is, in practice, occupied by Iran. It is a visible occupation that hardly anyone speaks about,” Sa’ar wrote on 𝕏.

“5,000 missiles, rockets, and drones have been fired at Israel from Lebanese territory since March 2nd, when Hezbollah launched its attack in violation of the November 2024 ceasefire. A large portion of them were fired at Israel from south of the Litani River - an area that the Lebanese army declared in early January to be under its ‘operational control’,” he added.

Iran announced the appointment of Mohammad Reza Rauf Sheibani, previously Iran's Special Envoy for Syria, as Ambassador to Lebanon. Sheibani succeeded Ambassador Mojtaba Amani, who lost an eye in Israel's pager attack, and left Beirut last week. pic.twitter.com/1vEr6j122j

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) February 25, 2026

The Lebanese Armed Forces said that its troops had taken over the positions vacated by Hezbollah in January, declaring the area free of the terrorists’ influence. This process was supposed to be expanded across the whole country, eventually disarming the terror group.

However, Hezbollah joined the war against Israel on the side of its Iranian patrons this month, launching thousands of strikes against Israel from the area south of the Litani River, triggering an Israeli ground invasion to clear the area of terror infrastructure, for the second time since 2023.

Sa’ar concluded: “Lebanon will not regain its freedom until a decision is made in Beirut to confront the Iranian occupation and its proxy – Hezbollah.”

The terror group is also the main factor enabling Sheibani to openly defy the government in Beirut, as it is widely seen as much more powerful than the Lebanese Armed Forces, which are also infiltrated by Hezbollah spies, informants, and collaborators.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, David Schenker, a former Trump administration official, said the affair “confirms that Iran and the IRGC are occupying forces in Lebanon.”

“They dominate the country and do not recognize the sovereignty of the government of Lebanon.”

The Iranian embassy in Beirut is reportedly being used by the IRGC to coordinate its activities in Lebanon and the broader region, after the regime lost its embassy in Damascus after the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria.

A parliament member for Hezbollah, Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, said the expulsion was a “major mistake,” and mocked the Foreign Minister’s argument that Sheibani had meddled in Lebanese affairs as “a bad joke.” Interference by the U.S. and other ambassadors is much greater, he claimed.

The Foreign Ministry should have summoned the U.S. ambassador dozens of times, said Hassan, accusing Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi of being part of an American axis in the region.

A Lebanese official told the newspaper Nidaa al-Watan that Sheibani’s “rebellion” was being discussed between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Raggi, who intends to publish an official response to the Iranian regime’s assertion that its ambassador would “continue his work” in Beirut.

The official added that the Foreign Ministry is currently examining legal measures for dealing with what it described as “the expelled Iranian ambassador who refuses to comply with international norms and rules.”

Within the government, the issue has caused a major crisis between President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of the Shiite Amal movement and an ally of Hezbollah, the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar reported.