Amidst the ongoing war in Lebanon, the Lebanese foreign ministry has declared Iran’s ambassador-designate Mohammad Reza Shibani persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country. Iran has told Lebanon that it wouldn’t comply and that Shibani would remain. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar captured the absurdity, noting that Shibani “is sipping his coffee in Beirut, mocking the host ‘country’”.
The question now is what Lebanon will do about this, because the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations gives Beirut the tools to act, and Beirut should use them.
