Ekhtiar, who interviewed Israel's Arabic-language military spokesman last year as the Gaza war raged, has divided Lebanese political opinion.

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassem Mawlawi confirmed the incident in statements to MTV channel, saying “the Iranian Mahan Air plane was being searched bag by bag at Beirut airport”.

Lebanon is promoting the revival of the country’s defunct railway system that could link to neighbouring Syria and Iraq and become part of China’s proposed Belt and Road Initiative in the region. The ...