Lebanese MP and prime ministerial candidate Fouad Makhzoumi has greeted Lebanon’s expulsion of Iran’s ambassador-designate with measured praise and immediate demands for further action, insisting that the decision transforms the crisis from a political matter into a question of sovereign law. Speaking on Al Hadath television and posting on X, Makhzoumi laid out a comprehensive roadmap — spanning diplomatic procedure, military deployment, and a complete break with Tehran — that he says must follow without delay.

“After the decision was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to declare the Iranian ambassador persona non grata,” Makhzoumi wrote on X, “the matter is no longer political, but rather sovereign and legal.” The distinction matters: it reframes the expulsion not as a diplomatic gesture but as an enforceable legal act that carries binding obligations — obligations he insists the Lebanese government must now honor in full.

“The prestige of a state begins with respecting its own decisions.”
— MP Fouad Makhzoumi, X (Twitter), March 25, 2026

The Four-Step Legal Protocol for Enforcement

With the diplomatic deadline of March 29 approaching, Makhzoumi outlined the precise procedural steps the Lebanese government must take if Iran’s ambassador-designate fails to comply with the departure order. These steps, he stressed, are grounded in international diplomatic law and the obligations of statehood:

⚑ Makhzoumi’s Enforcement Protocol — In the Event of Non-Compliance

  1. 1
    Official and Final Notification — A formal notice through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a specific, binding deadline for departure. No ambiguity, no extension.
  2. 2
    Withdrawal of Diplomatic Recognition — Formal revocation of all remaining diplomatic standing, removing any legal basis for the designate’s continued presence on Lebanese soil.
  3. 3
    Cessation of Privileges & Immunities — Ending any privileges or immunities not strictly necessary under the Vienna Convention, stripping the operational protection that diplomatic status affords.
  4. 4
    Coordination with Competent Authorities — Full coordination with Lebanese security and legal bodies to ensure physical implementation of the decision in a manner that upholds sovereignty and the rule of law.
Official Statement on X
Fouad Makhzoumi · MP, Lebanon
@fmakhzoumi
𝕏

I welcome the decision by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to withdraw accreditation from the Iranian ambassador — a decision I have repeatedly demanded in defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty and rejection of any guardianship over its national will.

Taking this step today proves that this path is the right one, and that protecting sovereignty begins with clear and decisive decisions that brook no delay or compromise.

But sovereignty is not a slogan — it is the safety of people in their homes, the right of children to sleep without fear, and for Beirut not to live nights like those we witness every day.

Accordingly, I call for completing this approach without hesitation, through the immediate implementation of the five-step plan I proposed to make Beirut free of weapons — a city for life, not a battlefield — and to entrench the state’s full sovereignty and confine security decision-making to its hands alone.

March 25, 2026 · X (Twitter) View on 𝕏 ↗

Al Hadath Intervention: Congratulations — and an Ultimatum

Appearing on the Lebanese news channel Al Hadath, Makhzoumi offered both a congratulatory message and a pointed challenge to Lebanon’s leadership. He noted that he had been calling for the withdrawal of the Iranian ambassador’s accreditation since the Iranian Revolutionary Guard targeting operations in Baabda and Al-Rushah — events that first made clear the depth of Tehran’s direct operational presence inside Lebanese territory.

Key Points from Makhzoumi’s Al Hadath Interview

▸ Congratulated the President of the Republic, the head of government, and Foreign Minister Raggi on the ambassador’s accreditation withdrawal — but stressed the decision must be “followed by practical steps,” most notably ensuring that no Revolutionary Guard figures remain on Lebanese soil.
▸ Called for the complete severance of relations with Iran for as long as Tehran continues its blatant interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs. “Iran has declared war on Lebanon,” he said. “I hope the government has sufficient courage to sever relations with it definitively.”
▸ Described the accreditation withdrawal as the first step in an “integrated roadmap” that must also include implementation of the government’s August 5 and 7 decisions, deployment of the Lebanese Army throughout the capital, and declaring Beirut a weapons-free city.
▸ Called on the army to declare a state of emergency to protect citizens from ongoing targeting operations against Hezbollah and IRGC members operating amid the civilian population — insisting that Lebanese lives must not be held hostage to those conflicts.

The Economist Article: “Beirut Cannot Remain Governed by Ambiguity”

Makhzoumi’s demands do not exist in isolation. In a widely circulated essay published by The Economist, he argued that Lebanon has arrived at a moment of irreversible choice — one that cannot be deferred through the ambiguity and political paralysis that have long defined Beirut’s governance. His words are blunt: “At a moment when regional conflict is intensifying, the Lebanese state faces a clear choice: assert its authority in the capital, or continue to cede it to forces beyond its control.”

📰
The Economist · By Invitation
A Plan to Reclaim Beirut
MP Fouad Makhzoumi outlines why Lebanon’s crisis stems from the coexistence of state institutions with parallel systems of power — and why that contradiction must end.
Read the full article at The Economist ↗

At the core of his argument is a diagnosis that cuts to the heart of Lebanon’s long dysfunction: the co-existence of formal state institutions with parallel armed systems of power — systems funded, directed, and protected by Iran through Hezbollah. “This must end,” he writes. Not managed, not negotiated around, not accommodated through power-sharing formulae, but ended as a structural feature of Lebanese political life.

“Sovereignty is not a slogan — it is the safety of people in their homes, the right of children to sleep without fear.”
— MP Fouad Makhzoumi, X (Twitter), March 25, 2026

What Comes Next: Pressure on Salam and Aoun

Makhzoumi’s interventions arrive at a moment of extraordinary pressure on Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and President Joseph Aoun. With the March 29 deadline for Sheibani’s departure approaching, the question of enforcement is no longer theoretical. Makhzoumi has outlined the steps that international law and diplomatic custom demand — and he has made clear that failure to follow through would expose the Lebanese state’s claims of sovereignty as hollow.

His five-step plan for a weapons-free Beirut — army deployment, weapons-free declaration, implementation of August decisions, IRGC expulsion, and full severance of ties with Tehran — represents the most comprehensive sovereignty agenda yet articulated by a mainstream Lebanese political figure. Whether the government acts on it will be the defining test of this moment.

For Lebanon’s people, the stakes are not abstract. As Makhzoumi put it: sovereignty means children who can sleep through the night. It means a capital city that is not a battlefield. It means decisions that are made in Beirut — not in Tehran.