Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that he has “asked the Americans” about the issue of the Iranian fuel grant for Lebanon and that he is yet to receive an “official answer.”

“I do not accept to subject Lebanon to any sanctions, whatever they may be,” Mikati added, in an interview on LBCI television.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has lauded presidential candidate Suleiman Franjieh.

In an interview with LBCI, Mikati said that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and al-Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh would make "a successful duo," if the latter gets elected as president.

MP Paula Yacoubian on Monday filed an appeal before the Constitutional Council against the 2022 state budget law.

The appeal carried the signatures of more than ten lawmakers.

A delegation from the U.S. Congress headed by lawmaker Mark Takano, and Congressmen Colin Allred and Katie Porter, arrived Monday in Beirut.

The American delegation met with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

Senior western officials, as well as officials from the Gulf countries and the Arab League, may soon visit Beirut, al-Joumhouria newspaper said Monday.

The daily reported that the western diplomatic drive would include visits from senior officials from France and the Vatican.

Qatari officials have suggested to Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil the name of Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun as a presidential candidate as France got closer to announcing its support for Aoun, al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

The daily said Monday that France's endorsement for Aoun has been confirmed. Backed by Riyadh and Washington, France is now close to announcing its support for the army chief's candidacy, al-Akhbar had previously said.

Kataeb Secretary-General Serge Dagher denied Monday an alleged meeting with Hezbollah, after a local media report had claimed a meeting between representatives from Hezbollah and the Kataeb party in Beirut's southern suburb.

A Hezbollah MP, Hezbollah political bureau member Mohammad Khansa, and Dagher have attended a meeting at the Kataeb's request, al-Akhbar newspaper said, in remarks published Monday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged that Damascus will continue to back Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The presidential vacuum will be lengthy despite the "intensity" of the French efforts and attempts by Paris, backed by Washington, Riyadh and some local forces, to reach a "compromise candidate called Joseph Aoun," al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday.

Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday emphasized that the election of a new president for the country is not solely the responsibility of Hezbollah.

“The obligatory path for the beginning of reforms and the beginning of working for rescuing Lebanon is the election of the president, that’s why all blocs are responsible for the election of the president and let no one hold Hezbollah alone responsible,” Qassem said.