It’s now been three days since the deadline for Iranian ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani to leave Lebanon expired, and no action to follow through on the expulsion order appears imminent. The decision was enacted by Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi, who under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention has the authority to expel an ambassador without consulting the cabinet, parliament, or president — though reports indicate the move was coordinated with both President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, deliberately excluding Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

This was a clear decision to exert Lebanese sovereignty over the influence that Iran has long projected into the country through Hezbollah and the Shia Amal party—and one that Lebanon has to follow through on if it wishes to reclaim its sovereignty after decades of Iranian influence gridlocking the country’s domestic affairs.

The Ambassador Who’s Overstayed His Welcome

The deadline for Shibani was set for Sunday evening. It came and went, and he remains in Lebanon. An Iranian diplomatic source told the AFP that the ambassador would remain in Beirut “in accordance with the wishes of the speaker of parliament Nabih Berri and of Hezbollah.” These wishes are genuine, but they have no legal standing in the country: the authority to designate a diplomat as persona non grata rests solely with the Foreign Minister, and cannot be overridden because a certain faction of the country wishes it was otherwise.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman confirmed the defiance on Monday, stating that Shibani “will continue his mission in Beirut” on the basis of conclusions reached by what he called “relevant Lebanese bodies.” The implication here was clear: Tehran does not regard the Lebanese government as the party who actually calls the shots in the country, but rather Hezbollah and its traditional parliamentary allies as the parties whose approval matters—and who can veto the........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)