Lebanese protesters tried to storm central bank offices in two major cities overnight, state media reported, after the national currency plunged to a new record low on the black market.

The pound has been pegged to the dollar at 1,507 since 1997, but the country's worst economic crisis in decades has seen its unofficial value plummet.

The Iranian embassy in Lebanon on Saturday lashed out at U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea over remarks related to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's call for buying fuel from Iran.

Road-blocking protests continued Saturday in Lebanon and several shops closed in the northern city of Tripoli as the Lebanese lira plummeted to unprecedented lows.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea on Friday criticized Lebanese parties seeking a so-called blocking one-third in the new government, as she said that importing fuel ships from Iran is “really not a solution.”

“Now is the time to build a government, not to block a government,” Shea said in an interview on al-Jadeed TV.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday thanked Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil for the “confidence” that he placed in him in his latest remarks, but he noted that he cannot act as a “referee” in the cabinet formation process.

“We have started to fulfill the request of Minister Bassil,” said Nasrallah in televised address dedicated to the domestic developments, referring to Bassil’s request that he step in as a “friend” and “referee” to resolve the disagreements related to the new cabinet.

Media officials from Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement, in addition to news directors and social media officers from both sides, held a coordinative meeting Friday at the FPM’s headquarters in Sin el-Fil, a statement said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Friday granted extraordinary approval for a decision under which the central bank will subsidize fuel imports at a rate of LBP 3,900 for the dollar instead of LBP 1,500, which will effectively hike the prices of fuel in the market.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil is not seeking an “inter-Shiite dispute” between Hizbullah and the Amal Movement, a top Hizbullah official has reportedly said.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan “Nasrallah's political aide, Husseen Khalil, communicated Wednesday with Speaker Nabih Berri to brief him on the outcome of Bassil’s meeting with (Hizbullah coordination official Wafiq) Safa,” al-Jadeed TV reported Thursday evening.

The Presidency’s press office on Thursday refuted a media report about caretaker PM Hassan Diab’s stance on the solution that was reached at the Baabda meeting for the fuel shortage crisis.

“Cooperation between the President and PM Diab is based on everything that can achieve the interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese, especially amid the difficult circumstances that Lebanon is going through,” the press office said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday chaired meeting for addressing the country’s fuel shortage crisis.