Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday accused Lebanon of being effectively under Iranian control, criticizing Beirut for failing to enforce the expulsion of Tehran’s ambassador despite a deadline that already expired on Sunday.

In a post on X, Sa’ar said Iranian envoy Mohammad Reza Sheibani remained in Lebanon past the March 29 deadline, “sipping his coffee in Beirut,” highlighting what he described as Lebanon’s inability to assert sovereignty over its own territory.

“Lebanon is a virtual state that is, in practice, occupied by Iran. It is a visible occupation that hardly anyone speaks about,” he wrote, while noting that Hezbollah ministers continue to serve in the Lebanese government.

Sa’ar’s also said that approximately 5,000 rockets, missiles, and drones have been fired at Israel from Lebanese territory, in clear violation of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire reached on November 27, 2024.

“A large portion of them were launched from south of the Litani River, an area that the Lebanese army declared in early January to be under its ‘operational control,’” he stated.

The Israeli foreign minister warned that Lebanon will not regain full sovereignty until Beirut makes a decisive effort to confront what he called the Iranian “occupation” and its local proxy, Hezbollah. Sa’ar stressed that Iran’s influence extends deeply into Lebanon’s political and military institutions, effectively undermining the authority of the Lebanese state.