Lebanon bars IRGC operations
Lebanon imposed a full ban on IRGC activities and ordered arrests or deportations of suspected operatives, a move reported widely in social feeds today. (x.com) The announcement was presented as a sharp pivot in Lebanon’s policy toward Iranian proxies. (x.com)
Lebanon’s cabinet said on March 5 it would ban all activity by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Lebanese soil and move to arrest and deport its members. (english.alarabiya.net) Information Minister Paul Morcos said the order covered any security or military activity by the force, regardless of “status or cover,” and that arrests would proceed under judicial supervision before deportation. (www.iranintl.com) The same cabinet session, chaired by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Grand Serail in Beirut, also reinstated visa requirements for Iranian citizens entering Lebanon. (today.lorientlejour.com) The move came three days after Salam’s government declared all military and security operations by Hezbollah illegal after rocket fire from Lebanon drew Israeli strikes. Salam said only the state could decide questions of war and peace. (today.lorientlejour.com) Lebanon’s new line followed the opening days of the March 2026 regional war, when Hezbollah joined attacks on Israel and Israeli forces warned Revolutionary Guard personnel to leave Lebanon within 24 hours. (today.lorientlejour.com) Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a branch of Iran’s armed forces that built deep ties with Hezbollah over decades, providing training, weapons support and strategic coordination. Lebanese officials presented the March 5 decision as an effort to stop foreign-run military activity from operating inside the country. (english.alarabiya.net) Salam later said the Revolutionary Guard was directing Hezbollah operations in Lebanon, a charge that sharpened the government’s case for the ban. Hezbollah and Iran have long described their relationship as an alliance against Israel, not outside command over Lebanon. (today.lorientlejour.com) The March decisions did not sever diplomatic relations with Tehran, but Lebanon later escalated pressure by declaring Iran’s ambassador persona non grata and ordering him to leave the country. (today.lorientlejour.com) What happens next is enforcement: Lebanese security agencies were told to identify any Revolutionary Guard presence, stop operations on the ground and prepare deportation cases through the courts. (www.iranintl.com)
