By Nohad Topalian | 2026-06-02

Long-rumored reports of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers holding authentic Lebanese passports were confirmed after a precise Israeli airstrike on March 8.

The attack on the Ramada Plaza hotel in Beirut's Raouche district killed four Iranian officers, publicly exposing their use of genuine Lebanese passports under pseudonyms.

Security personnel found additional passports and reservations at the Mövenpick hotel for another group of IRGC operatives during their prompt investigation of the scene.

"Intelligence uncovered a professional forgery ring operating within Hizbullah’s areas of strong influence," military expert and retired Brigadier General Marcel Baloukji told Al-Fassel.

"The ring's primary operatives were local mayors who expertly manipulated the necessary supporting documents required for issuing genuine passports," he added.

The passports were authentic, but the illegal manipulation lay in the forged supporting documentation, including civil registry extracts and official attestations.

Sequential serial numbers suggested the forged passports had been issued simultaneously by a single processing center, as revealed by security intelligence.

These fraudulent passports facilitated the movement of IRGC operatives, enabling them to evade international watchlists and travel freely, particularly in South America, Baloukji noted.

IRGC officers leveraged this system to embed within local civilian, commercial infrastructure, like hotels successfully evading detection for terrorist operations and assassinations.

This deep infiltration strategy intentionally served as a "human shield," significantly complicating the necessary tracking and monitoring efforts of foreign intelligence agencies.

The network allowed the IRGC to establish deep-seated criminal and logistical capabilities globally, now completely exposed following the necessary leakage of relevant data.

Lebanese Member of Parliament Ghada Ayoub filed a formal complaint regarding the illegal issuance of passports, asserting evidence of use by IRGC and Hizbullah commanders.