Lebanon replaces Detroit consul expelled over 1983 Marines attack posts
Lebanon's consul general in Detroit, Ibrahim Charara, left the United States after the State Department declared him persona non grata over a 2021 social media post in which he praised the suicide attack that killed hundreds of US Marines in Beirut in 1983.
BEIRUT — Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji announced late on Sunday that a diplomat would be sent to Detroit, Michigan, to replace Ibrahim Charara as consul general. Charara was ordered to leave the United States over controversial social media posts in which he praised the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
What happened: “Lebanon is a country that respects and abides by international conventions and diplomatic norms, unlike some other countries,” Rajji wrote on the X platform on Sunday, in an apparent jab at Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, who was declared persona non grata in March but refused to leave the country.
“In keeping with this commitment, I immediately took steps to dispatch a diplomat on a special assignment to Detroit,” he said, adding that the new diplomat would arrive in the United States within two days and oversee the Consulate General in Detroit until a new consul general was appointed.
While Rajji did not name the new appointee, diplomatic sources revealed to Qatar's Al-Araby TV that Sami Al-Nmeir, director of emigrants at the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, will replace Charara.
Background: The US State Department declared Charara, Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit, persona non grata on Friday and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours.
A State Department spokesperson was quoted by several local and regional media outlets as saying the decision was prompted by a 2021 social media post made by Charara praising the killing of US Marines in a car bombing near the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983.
The attack, attributed to Hezbollah, killed 241 American military personnel, including 220 Marines.
“Terrorists murdered Americans and our colleagues in the bombings of the US Embassy compounds in Beirut in 1983 and 1984, and we will never forget them,” the spokesperson said in a statement. "Anyone in the US who celebrates or justifies terrorist attacks has no place in our country."
The controversy surrounding Charara began on Nov. 2, when the US-based website Washington Free Beacon reported on a series of social media posts the diplomat had published in October 2021, including one in which he praised the 1983 attack.
“On this day, the heroic resistance to the American military occupation of Beirut ended with a single strike that documents the defeat of neocolonialism on our land,” Charara wrote.
The post was flagged by X for violating its Violent Speech policy, restricting its visibility on the platform.
Whoa. That’s because of our @FreeBeacon report. Lebanese consul Ibrahim Charara, who was at an event with Abdul El-Sayed last week, is being kicked out of US for calling the Marine barracks attack “heroic resistance.” https://t.co/avinJpqiot https://t.co/J6T4YQ5OrP
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) November 7, 2026
Another post, also from October 2021 and still visible, was highlighted as well.
“From the Marines barracks in Beirut to the Al-Tanf base," Charara wrote, "we will reject the occupier and defeat him,” in an apparent reference to a drone attack by a pro-Iranian group against US forces based at al-Tanf military base in southern Syria.
من ثكنة المارينز في بيروت إلى قاعدة التنف... سننبذ المُحتلّ وندحره. #سورية #لبنان #دمشق #التنف
— Ibrahim Charara (@IbrahimChararaa) October 20, 2021
Charara’s X account has been inactive since November 2021.
The Washington Free Beacon also mentioned Charara’s participation in political events in Michigan, including one in late October supporting Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, who went on to win a Senate seat in last week's midterm elections.
Why it matters: Charara left the United States on Sunday. A video circulating online showed members of the Lebanese community accompanying him at Detroit airport as he prepared to depart.
The Imam Sadr Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by Imam Musa al-Sadr, an Iranin-Lebanese Shiite cleric who founded the Hezbollah-linked Amal movement in Lebanon. The US organization provides support for the Lebanese community in the United States. Hamid al-Sadr, the founder's son and chairman of the foundation's institutions in the United States, was also there to see Charara off at the airport.
وسط وداع من الجالية... إبراهيم شرارة يغادر أميركا بعد اعتباره غير مرغوب فيه: "قمت بواجبي"! https://t.co/mUT1pu33vu https://t.co/t6cmfC1JGi
— Lebanon Debate (@lebanondebate) November 9, 2026
“I did my duty,” Charara told those accompanying him at the airport before his departure. “I truly hope I haven’t let any of you down.”
Michigan is home to one of the largest Lebanese communities in the United States, concentrated mainly in Dearborn.
Know more: Charara was appointed Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit in September 2025, according to media reports. The position is no longer listed on his LinkedIn profile.
The Lebanese diplomat holds a master's degree in political science and government from the Cairo-based Institute of Arab Research and Studies. He also served as a diplomat at the Lebanese Embassy in Cairo from August 2019 to October 2023.
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