Lebanon decides to end visa-free entry for Iranians, calls for ban on IRGC activity in country

Lebanon’s cabinet announces new measures against Iran, including re-imposing visa requirements for Iranians visiting the country.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam requested in the cabinet meeting that “all necessary measures be taken to prevent any activity by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon,” according to Information Minister Paul Morcos.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has been cooperating closely with Hezbollah for decades, turning it into a powerful militia on Israel’s northern border.

The current government, led by President Joseph Aoun and Salam, is an anti-Hezbollah coalition that emerged with Western backing after Israel hammered Hezbollah in a 2024 air and ground offensive.

Salam takes to X after the cabinet meeting to blast “the one who dragged Lebanon into adventures that we were all better off without, without asking about their catastrophic repercussions on the country and our people, all in service of external interests that have nothing to do with Lebanon’s interest,” a reference to Iran’s proxy Hezbollah opening fire on Israel this week.

“Treasonous talk is not bravery, and the Lebanese have grown tired of it,” Salam continues, calling on Hezbollah — though not by name — “to apologize to the Lebanese people for the new burdens he has saddled them with, from destruction and displacement and ruin.”