Speaker Nabih Berri has expected positive developments in the presidential deadlock after a possible deal over Iran's nuclear program.

Al-Mustaqbal daily on Monday quoted Berri as saying that any agreement between the P5+1 group of powers and Tehran would lead to a

Speaker Nabih Berri has said the presidential crisis has become an obsession, stressing that his repeated calls for parliamentary sessions to elect a new head of state are aimed at pushing MPs into assuming their responsibilities.

Berri's visitors quoted him as saying that the presidential crisis has not only become a “national obsession but it is his daily concern.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has said he advised al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora to disregard remarks made by officials outside Lebanon to preserve Lebanon.

Berri said in remarks published on Wednesday that he criticized Saniora on his latest speech, adding it did not fall in the interest of the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal.

March 14 alliance lawmakers boycotted a meeting for the joint parliamentary committees on Tuesday to protest a decision for Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan to chair the session.

There was no lack of quorum despite the boycott.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said he holds onto the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement despite the latest exchange of accusations between the two parties' officials.

Al-Liwaa daily on Tuesday quoted sources close to Berri as saying that the eight round of talks would be held under his sponsorship in Ain el-Tineh on Wednesday unless it was delayed for some reason.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi demanded on Monday authorities to grant Lebanese expatriates the nationality, describing it as an “urgent” matter.

“Despite the difficulties that the country is passing through, granting the Lebanese expats the nationality is an important and urgent matter,” al-Rahi said during a meeting with the representatives of the Maronite Foundation in the World.

The dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal was in limbo after the two parties' officials exchanged accusations, a few days before a new round of talks between them.

Over the weekend, Hizbullah officials Hashem Safieddine and MP Mohammed Raad lashed out at the March 14 alliance's formation of the National Council.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that Lebanon is confronting jihadists on the eastern border with Syria and “political” militants inside the country.

“Lebanon is confronting the terrorist Islamic State group on the border and the political IS in the interior,” local dailies quoted Berri as saying in remarks published on Monday.

Complications loomed over the adoption of the wage scale for the public sector after a meeting between lawmakers, who discussed the impossibility of endorsing the new draft-law in the absence of the 2015 state budget.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Saturday said that a meeting was held at the residence of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc head Fouad Saniora with Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and LF MP George Adwan and Mustaqbal lawmaker Jamal al-Jarrah tackled the thorny issue.

Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed satisfaction with the government's performance and vowed to call for several parliamentary sessions to approve draft-laws, among them the controversial wage scale for the public sector.

Local dailies on Friday quoted Berri as saying that the cabinet's appointment of the members of the Banking Control Commission of Lebanon (BCCL) encourages the government to be more productive.