The Lebanese Cabinet has recommended the approval of an Interior Ministry request to grant entry visas to Iranian citizens at the Lebanese border crossings provided that there is reciprocal treatment from Iran, The Daily Star reported with reference to the state-run National News Agency.
The decision was made at Wednesday's Cabinet's session.
The Cabinet agreed to form a ministerial committee, to be headed by the tourism minister and comprising the ministers of interior and foreign affairs, to propose the measures that need to be taken to grant entry visas and present them to the Cabinet.
For his part, Batroun MP Butros Harb criticized what he said was the Cabinet's decision to exempt Iranians from entry visas, saying it would be a "mistake."
Harb said the government should not "grant the right to citizens of other countries, particularly the Iranians, to enter Lebanon without obtaining entry visas."
The MP said that political polarization between rival factions over Iran's political and security role in Lebanon meant the decision could cause "internal political problems in Lebanon."
Iran supports the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, some of whose members are allegedly linked to the murder of Rafik Hariri, the father of the current Lebanese prime minister.