BEIRUT, March 24. /TASS/. Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry has declared Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani persona non grata.

"The Lebanese state has withdrawn its approval of the candidature of Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani and declares him persona non grata," it said in an X post.

The Iranian diplomat must leave Beirut by March 29. "Tehran’s violation of diplomatic norms and routine practice of communication between states" was cited as the reason for the ambassador’s expulsion.

Earlier, Secretary-General of the Lebanese Foreign Ministry Abdel Sattar Issa said that the country’s ambassador to Tehran, Ahmad Suweidan, had been "recalled for consultations."

On March 5, the Lebanese government demanded that security forces take resolute measures to stop the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, an elite unit of the Iranian army) in Lebanon. According to Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos, relevant bodies have been instructed to expose the presence of IRGC elements in the country and "take immediate steps to stop their military activities, regardless of the cover they are operating under." Morcos emphasized that "the IRGC’s activities in Lebanon are prohibited, and its members will be arrested and deported to their homeland."