Tel Aviv, March 30 — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday accused Lebanon of being effectively under Iranian control and failing to counter Hezbollah’s influence. In a post on X, Sa’ar said last week Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry declared Iran’s ambassador-designate persona non grata and set an expulsion deadline that lapsed on March 29, yet the envoy remained in Beirut. He criticized the situation as evidence that Iran exerts practical control over the country and noted that Hezbollah-affiliated ministers continue to serve in the Lebanese government.
Sa’ar described Lebanon as a “virtual state” occupied in practice by Iran and called the presence and reach of Iranian-backed forces a visible occupation that goes largely unaddressed. He also accused Hezbollah of repeatedly striking Israel in breach of the November 2024 ceasefire, saying some 5,000 missiles, rockets and drones have been launched from Lebanese territory at Israel since March 2, when a major Hezbollah assault began. Many of those projectiles, he said, were fired from areas south of the Litani River, territory the Lebanese army had previously said it was exercising “operational control” over.
Urging decisive action from Beirut, Sa’ar warned that Lebanon will not recover its sovereignty until its leaders move to confront what he termed the Iranian occupation and its proxy, Hezbollah.
Earlier, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi announced the government had withdrawn agrément for Iranian ambassador-designate Mohammad Reza Shibani, declared him persona non grata and ordered him to leave by March 29. Raggi said he instructed the foreign ministry’s secretary-general to summon Iran’s charge d’affaires in Beirut to inform Tehran of the decision.
Sa’ar welcomed Raggi’s step as justified but called on Lebanese authorities to go further in countering Iran’s influence through Hezbollah. This report is based on a syndicated news feed and is published as received; the publisher assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness.
