Iraq

The Director of the Media Directorate in the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) 🇮🇶, Muhannad Al-Oqabi, announced in a tweet the resolution of the confusion regarding the detainees .

He noted that they have been handed over to PMF Security to follow up on their case with the Iraqi Judiciary

A joint force had previously arrested the Director of Arms (Branches) in the PMF, Commander Akram Al-Tamimi (Abu Jaafar) , along with three PMF members from his home in the Al-Baladiyat area in eastern Baghdad —a serious development targeting high-ranking leadership within the institution .

In contrast to the previous crisis surrounding the arrest of Baghdad Belt Intelligence Director Abbas Al-Yaqoobi and the accompanying tension , the situation this time was settled, and the detainees were handed over in a short timeframe and without fanfare .

Despite the rapid containment of the situation , urgent questions remain regarding the real reasons behind these repeated arrests , who stands behind issuing the orders ❓, and whether this represents the prelude to a series of targetings aimed at muddying the waters and keeping the security institution under constant pressure ⁉️.

The Iranian Ambassador at the Center of the Confrontation: is Lebanese Diplomacy Becoming an Arena for Sectarian War?

Between the South and diplomatic escalation: Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani’s case enters a decisive phase

According to the headline of Yedioth Ahronoth, today appears set to mark the final chapter in the Lebanese-Iranian standoff over the legal status of Iran’s designated ambassador to Beirut, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, coinciding with the expiration of his visa.

The newspaper reports that the Lebanese authorities have designated Sheibani a “persona non grata”, while Iran has kept him at its embassy until the expiration date of his visa, in defiance of the Lebanese decision.

According to the newspaper, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji had declared his categorical rejection of any attempt to circumvent what Beirut considers a sovereign decision, arguing that designating Sheibani as persona non grata requires his expulsion after he has lost the legal basis for remaining in Lebanon.

But the most significant development is that, according to Yedioth Ahronoth, Tehran recently presented Beirut with a proposal to appoint a chargé d’affaires as part of a settlement concerning Sheibani’s status.

The Lebanese response, however, was negative, rejecting any settlement concerning Sheibani and linking the matter to the appointment of his replacement.

This is where the issue goes beyond a visa dispute or a diplomatic protocol matter.

The Israeli newspaper itself links the case to the escalating tensions in Lebanese-Iranian relations, what it describes as continued Iranian officials’ support for Hezbollah, and the view of Lebanon as a key arena in the conflict between Tehran and Washington.

The newspaper also connects the issue to Iran’s responses to recent U.S. sanctions against Hezbollah and to Washington’s attempt to redefine the group as an organization linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps rather than as a Lebanese national movement.

And here lies the more dangerous question:

Are we witnessing a limited diplomatic and legal dispute over the status of an ambassador?

Or is the Iranian ambassador’s case being used as a tool in a broader political and regional confrontation—one extending from U.S. sanctions against Hezbollah to Lebanese-Iranian relations and, ultimately, to the future of Lebanon’s internal balance?

As for Mohammad Reza Sheibani, it is a mistake to reduce his case to a visa issue.

He represents a state that maintains official diplomatic relations with Lebanon, and Iran has the right to defend the status of its diplomatic representative in accordance with international rules and diplomatic norms.

More importantly: A dispute with Iran must not be turned into a pretext for targeting Lebanon’s Shia community or politically punishing it because of its political choices or regional relationships.

If this is a diplomatic dispute, then let it be resolved diplomatically.

But if the ambassador’s case becomes a tool to tighten the pressure on Hezbollah—and then on the Lebanese Shia community associated with it—we are facing something far more serious than a diplomatic crisis.

We are facing a sectarian war being waged through diplomatic instruments.

Lebanese sovereignty must not become a selective slogan used to target one particular Lebanese community or political constituency.

Defending the Iranian ambassador’s right to fair diplomatic treatment does not mean abandoning Lebanese sovereignty. It means rejecting the transformation of diplomatic institutions into instruments of a sectarian and regional political conflict.

If the objective is to protect the state, then sovereignty and the law must be applied equally to everyone.

But if the Sheibani case is merely a façade for targeting Iran, Hezbollah and Lebanon’s Shia community, then the truth must be stated clearly:

This is not merely a diplomatic battle over an ambassador.

It is an attempt to transfer the political and regional war into Lebanon’s diplomatic sphere and turn it into a new front in an unmistakably sectarian conflict.