Report: Lebanese officer bars Iranian delegation from leaving the airport in sign of widening rift

The Lebanese army’s head of security at Beirut’s airport directed his officers to search a security team that was accompanying Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International reports.

The Iranian team refused to be searched, citing diplomatic immunity, leading the airport security head to shut down all gates surrounding the VIP lounge where the Iranians were residing, preventing them from leaving the airport, according to the report.

The incident appears to point to growing frustration in Lebanon over Iran’s alleged meddling in its internal affairs through Tehran’s ongoing support for Hezbollah.