Tehran introduced a new visa procedure on Sunday for Lebanese citizens seeking to enter Iran in response to Beirut’s decision to cancel a bilateral agreement that once allowed eased border procedures, the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon confirmed.
Lebanon canceled the agreement as part of a broader effort to control borders and “prevent any activity that could undermine security or use Lebanese territory to carry out special objectives,” the Lebanese cabinet confirmed, after the decision in March.
“The competent authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran have taken the necessary arrangements to ensure the comfort of Lebanese citizens, such that religious and tourist visit visas are issued immediately at all Iranian airports,” the Islamic regime promised.
“This visa fee amounts to €20 for Lebanese nationals heading to Iran as a tourist destination, and €10 for those wishing to travel there to perform religious visits. These arrangements have also been generalized to all relevant official authorities, in addition to the airlines operating flights to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Tourism in Islamic Republic increasing despite conflict
While it is hard to pinpoint the exact number of Lebanese travelers entering Iran annually, tourism in the Islamic Republic has seemingly increased over the past few years, despite regional conflict. State media reported the regime received 7.3 million visitors last year.
The plan to charge Lebanese citizens comes a week after the Iranian rial hit a record low of 1.8 million rial to $1, creating further strain on an already battered economy.
The shift in policy also comes after Tehran refused to withdraw its ambassador, despite Beirut naming him persona non grata. Lebanon has also made a number of promises to limit the powers of Iran’s Hezbollah proxy, including legislating that only state actors can hold arms and condemning the renewed conflict into which the Shi’ite terror group has dragged the country, after the Israeli assassination of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Dr. Menachem Merhavi, a researcher specializing in modern Iran and Shia Islam, told The Jerusalem Post he thought the move was likely symbolic as travel to Iran has significantly dropped since the war broke out and there is uncertainty surrounding a return to the conflict.
“The Iranians are very unhappy about the Lebanese Government in all sorts of ways. They passed a resolution against Hezbollah, and so they want to show that they’re unhappy about that, of course, but look, it’s not that there are so many Lebanese who want to get to Iran now,” he commented. “So I’m saying it’s more a symbolic thing than anything else.”
Merhavi also noted that there was likely a security element involved, as the regime has become increasingly paranoid about opposition elements entering the country, a theory mirrored by Harel Chorev, a senior researcher at the Moshe Dayan Center.
Chorev noted that given that the large majority of those visiting Iran come from the ideologically aligned Shi’ite base, the new visa requirements would be ineffectual as a symbolic action. He also theorized that such changes wouldn’t offend the average citizen in Lebanon who has “plenty of reasons to want out of the region.”
With the aforementioned factors in mind, Chorev claimed Tehran wanted to better monitor who was coming into the country as part of a growing paranoia about Israeli espionage.
“From their point of view, they know they are penetrated, and Israeli intelligence has achieved a very strong success,” he commented, adding that he had never seen the Lebanese majority so openly call for peace and or normalizing ties with Israel before, which could sprout new fears in the regime.