'Baseless': Lebanon denies giving Qasem Soleimani's daughter citizenship

Lebanon rejected on Monday reports in Saudi media that it has given citizenship to assassinated Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qasem Soleimani's daughter Zeinab.

The US used a drone to kill Soleimani near Baghdad Airport in Iraq in January 2020, and Tehran vowed revenge for his death.

The Lebanese presidency tweeted that its media office rejects reports by Al-Hadath TV and the Al-Arabiya news website that Beirut's President Michel Aoun "issued a decree granting Lebanese citizenship" to Zeinab Soleimani.

The presidency added that its information office had "confirmed that this news is false and baseless".

News organisations reporting that Zeinab Soleimani had been given Lebanese citizenship did not include an official response from Lebanon's authorities, pan-Arab news website Arabi 21 said.

It added that Zeinab has been seen on the pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV station "several times".

In 2020 some media outlets reported that Zeinab had married the son of a cousin of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.

If true, Zeinab would be able to request citizenship after one year of marriage to her Lebanese husband. This would not require a decree from Aoun.

The Iran Wire news website, which is opposed to the Iranian government, said it was unknown if she had made such a request.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese militant group and political party supported by Tehran. Like its Iranian backers, Hezbollah has joined the war in Syria on the side of President Bashar Al-Assad's regime.

Qasem Soleimani was a key figure in expanding Iranian influence in the Middle East region, playing a pivotal role in the Syrian conflict.