Lebanon to review decision not to stamp Iranian passports

Lebanese ministers are set to review a decision by the country's security agency not to stamp Iranian passports at the airport, an interior ministry source said on Tuesday.

The General Security agency made the announcement this week and said entry cards would be stamped instead.

The move sparked an outcry from the Lebanese Forces, a Christian anti-Hizballah party, who claimed the decision would help Iran send more forces to Syria via Beirut or move money to Hizballah.

Caretaker Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk will meet Prime Minister Saad Hariri and other Lebanese officials on Wednesday to discuss whether to nullify the passport decision, the source told Reuters.

Major General Abbas Ibrahim, who heads General Security, defended the step as a normal procedure.

All Iranian arrivals and departures are automatically registered in a database, Ibrahim said.

"Unfortunately, some in Lebanon have a wide imagination," he said in remarks to local daily al-Joumhouria.

Wehbe Katicha, a lawmaker with the Lebanese Forces, said he believed the interior ministry would cancel the new measure.

"This does not need discussion," Katicha told Reuters. "A director general made an administrative decision, when it should be a political one. It's a mistake."