Iran is not obstructing the formation of the new government in Lebanon, a senior French source has said, hours after phone talks between the French and Iranian presidents.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has visited Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati to proceed with the discussion regarding the distribution of the ministerial portfolios, media reports said.

Lawyers of six Syrian refugees arrested in Lebanon said on Sunday that the country's security services have given them a 24-hour ultimatum — either leave Lebanon to a third country or be deported to Syria, the war-ravaged country they fled.

Lawyer Mohammed Sablouh said the move is highly unusual, is a violation of Lebanon's international obligations and laws, and seriously endangers the men's lives.

President Michel Aoun on Sunday said that a “corrupt system” is still “controlling the country and the people.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has hoped that Lebanon will have a new government soon.

There are matters that are still unresolved and President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Najib Miqati will need to hold further consultations to resolve them, a member of Miqati’s parliamentary bloc said.

Higher Islamic Shiite Council head Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan passed away overnight Saturday. He was 85.

The suggestion that PM-designate Najib Miqati intends to form a 14-seat government comprised of top politicians is “not serious” and “not an alternative to the 24-minister format that Miqati is clinging to,” sources close to him said.

Syria has agreed to help crisis-hit Lebanon by letting gas and electricity transit through its territory, an official said, during the first high-level visit from Beirut to Damascus since Syria's civil war erupted.

PM-designate Najib Miqati is inclined to suggest the formation of an “executive salvation government” that would “pull the country out of the disastrous crisis,” a media report said on Saturday.