President Michel Aoun on Wednesday has requested that now-resigned government of PM Saad Hariri to continue in a caretaker capacity until the formation of a new government, the Directorate-General of the Presidency said on Wednesday.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iraqis and Lebanese on Wednesday to seek their demands within the framework of the law after waves of protests rocked the two countries.

The Lebanese Army and security forces on Wednesday opened several key highways and roads after an army statement calling on protesters to move their rallies to main protest squares and voluntarily open blocked roads.

People expect President Michel Aoun to make a statement on Wednesday announcing the acceptance of the resignation of PM Saad Hariri, who asserted that his Tuesday resignation is “final and effective.”

The day after anti-government protests erupted in Iraq, Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani flew into Baghdad late at night and took a helicopter to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where he surprised a group of top security officials by chairing a meeting in place of the prime minister.

The arrival of Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force and the architect of its regional security apparatus, signaled Tehran's concern over the protests, which had erupted across the capital and in Iraq's Shiite heartland, and included calls for Iran to stop meddling in the country.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Tuesday for Lebanese political leaders to "urgently" form a new government following the resignation of the Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri submitted his government's resignation on Tuesday, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests against corruption and sectarianism.

Hariri's sombre televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilised since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.

An unprecedented protest movement has gripped Lebanon for almost two weeks, demanding an overhaul of a political class viewed as incompetent and corrupt.

An announced tax on calls made through free phone applications sparked the demonstrations, but that was just the latest in a long list of economic grievances that have spurred exasperated Lebanese to protest.

As soon as Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation, popular delegations, dignitaries, clerics, former prime ministers, incumbent ministers and al-Mustaqbal Movement MPs from different areas flocked to the Center House to express their support for his decision to resign.

The visitors included former PMs Tamam Salam and Fouad Saniora, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan and the ministers Raya al-Hassan, Mohammed Choucair, Adel Afiouni and Jamal Jarrah.

Lebanon has been gripped by unprecedented anti-government and anti-austerity protests for nearly two weeks, pushing Prime Minister Saad Hariri to announce sweeping economic reforms then offer to resign on Tuesday.

Here is a recap: