Youssef "Joe" Rajji (; born 20 November 1962) is a Lebanese diplomat who has served as minister of foreign affairs and emigrants in the cabinet of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam since February 2025. He previously served as Lebanon's ambassador to Jordan from 2022 to 2025.
Rajji was born in Beirut on 20 November 1962. He holds a master's degree in Political and Administrative Sciences from Saint Joseph University of Beirut and a diploma in Media and Political Communication from the University of Paris. He is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.
Rajji joined LebanonâÂÂs diplomatic service in 1992. Key assignments include:
Rajji was appointed foreign minister in February 2025 as part of Prime Minister Nawaf SalamâÂÂs technocratic cabinet, formed amid LebanonâÂÂs ongoing political and economic crises. He was appointed by the Lebanese Forces party. His appointment drew praise from international figures, including Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, who called his leadership "critical for regional stability."
On 2 October, 2025 he announced the launch of the online platform for Lebanese diaspora to register digitally for the upcoming 2026 parliamentary elections. This initiative was done to boost diaspora voter participation. This is part of joint effort between the Foreign Ministry and Interior Ministry to make voter registration clear and accurate, and to encourage full participation of Lebanese citizens abroad in the upcoming elections. By mid-November reports say that over 100,000 Lebanese diaspora have registered to the platform.
On 8 March, 2026, Following the 2026 Iran war and the attacks carried out by Hezbollah against Cyprus, targeting British military bases, Rajji condemned the attacks in a message he sent to Cypriote counterpart Constantinos Kombos. Rajji said that "Lebanon will not serve as a platform for implementing foreign agendas and urged Cyprus not to confuse the Lebanese state with groups operating outside its authority and legal framework".
Later in a extraordinary virtual meeting of the Council of the Arab League he said that "Hezbollah had disregarded LebanonâÂÂs national interests, stressing that the Lebanese government and people are not responsible for the groupâÂÂs actions". He then continued to say that he: "expressed deep regret that Hezbollah had once again ignored LebanonâÂÂs supreme national interests in favor of external agendas".
On March 19, 2026 while taking part in the emergency meeting held in Riyadh, to discuss Iran's aggression against its Muslim neighboring states he emphasized that "the Lebanese government is determined and resolved to wrest Lebanon from the clutches of the Iranian grip, after it instructed Hezbollah to drag Lebanon into a war it did not choose,".
On March 24, 2026 Rajji declared the Iranian ambassador Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani as PNG (persona non grata), giving him until Sunday to leave the country. He was quoted saying "in light of what the Lebanese state described as Tehran's violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries".
Rajji has emphasized the need for Lebanon to maintain neutrality in regional conflicts and strengthen ties with Arab and European partners. He has also advocated for reforms to streamline consular services for the Lebanese diaspora.