Iranian Ambassador-designate to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Sheibani, who was declared persona non grata by Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry and whose existing residency expired on Monday, has been granted a six-month residence permit by Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security.

The permit does not recognize Sheibani as Iran’s ambassador. It was issued to him in his capacity as a former Iranian diplomat who served in Lebanon between 2006 and 2009, rather than as the country’s current ambassador.

The arrangement allows Sheibani to remain in Lebanon for six months while stripping him of any diplomatic role, according to information reported by Lebanese media.

The decision is being portrayed by some Lebanese sources as an attempt to draw a clear distinction between granting an individual permission to remain in the country and restoring his diplomatic status.

“This is where the significance of the decision lies: the logic of the state has prevailed, albeit partially, over the logic of the sponsor of the parallel state in Lebanon,” sources told Nidaa al-Watan. “Sheibani has now become a resident inside his country’s embassy, without a mandate or immunity to carry out any diplomatic or political role. Politically speaking, it is as though the man has been placed under a form of diplomatic house arrest: he is in Lebanon, but outside the Lebanese political game.”

Sheibani had applied to the General Directorate of General Security for a residence permit. After its legal department reviewed the application, General Security Director General Maj. Gen. Hassan Shuqair approved a six-month permit, with the consent of President Joseph Aoun, according to the reports.

The permit was granted specifically on the basis of Sheibani’s previous diplomatic service in Lebanon from 2006 to 2009. It does not authorize him to conduct diplomatic work or engage in diplomatic activities.

Why Lebanon declared Sheibani persona non grata

Lebanon withdrew its approval of Sheibani’s accreditation and declared him persona non grata on March 24, shortly after he returned to Beirut as Iran’s ambassador-designate.

The Foreign Ministry said the decision was taken under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and did not amount to a break in diplomatic relations with Iran. Instead, it was described as a measure against Sheibani for violating diplomatic norms and the obligations attached to his position.

Lebanese authorities accused Sheibani of interfering in the country’s domestic affairs by making public statements about Lebanese politics and criticizing decisions taken by the government. The ministry also said he had held meetings with unofficial Lebanese groups without going through the Foreign Ministry, which it said violated the diplomatic protocols governing his mission.

Under the decision, Sheibani was ordered to leave Lebanon by March 29. Lebanon also recalled its ambassador to Iran, Ahmad Sweidan, for consultations, citing what it described as Tehran’s violations of diplomatic norms between the two countries.

The move came amid increasingly tense relations between Beirut and Tehran, particularly over Lebanon’s efforts to assert state authority over weapons and reduce foreign interference in its domestic affairs. The Lebanese government has sought to distance itself from Iranian influence while maintaining that its action was directed at the ambassador rather than at diplomatic relations with Iran as a whole.

Government rejects diplomatic workaround

Despite the March decision, Sheibani remained in Lebanon, with his residence permit eventually becoming the focus of a new dispute over whether his stay could be extended without effectively reversing the persona non grata decision.

Foreign Ministry sources told MTV that proposals for resolving Sheibani’s status had been discussed outside the ministry and that Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji had not agreed to any settlement. The sources said Rajji remained committed to the original decision against Sheibani.

The ministry also maintained that even granting Sheibani ordinary residency was legally problematic because the persona non grata designation applied to him personally, not merely to him in his capacity as a diplomat.

Rajji had previously argued that declaring a diplomat persona non grata leaves no room for interpretation and that renewing a visa or granting a residence permit would have no legal basis under that decision.

The latest arrangement nevertheless creates a distinction between Sheibani’s diplomatic status and his right to remain temporarily in Lebanon.

He is now being treated as a former diplomat who previously served in the country, rather than as Iran’s accredited representative.

A carefully calibrated compromise

According to Nidaa Al-Watan, the decision appears to stop short of the outcome Tehran had sought: preserving Sheibani’s presence in Lebanon as a functioning ambassador under a different legal arrangement.

Instead, the six-month permit gives him permission to remain while formally denying him the authority and privileges associated with diplomatic accreditation.

For Lebanese sources supportive of the decision, that distinction is significant. It allows the state to maintain its March decision while avoiding an immediate confrontation over Sheibani’s physical departure.

The result is an unusual diplomatic limbo: Sheibani remains in Lebanon and is expected to stay inside the Iranian Embassy, but without recognition as ambassador and without authorization to conduct diplomatic or political activity.