Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has said his aim is to keep Lebanon stable and that he would like to stay in office. In an interview with French channel CNews on Monday, Hariri said he has not resigned.

"I would like stability in Lebanon to be the first thing for everyone. For me, when the president asked me to suspend my resignation, I told him that we have to solve some problems, and we are doing some consultations, and I would like to stay," Hariri said, according to his press office, as reported by the dpa news agency.

Hariri said he would be open to pushing forward elections in Lebanon, which are currently slated for May next year.

Hariri has kept Lebanese political watchers guessing for most of the past month, first announcing during a Nov. 4 visit to Saudi Arabia that he would step down, claiming risks to his life, and then rescinding it on Nov. 22 to delay his resignation to pave the way for dialogue with other political leaders about relations with the rest of the region.

Regarding the circumstances of his resignation, Hariri said he went to Saudi Arabia to improve relations. "When I saw that we had a very big problem with the Gulf, I had to create a positive shock. Regarding everything that happened there, there are many stories that have come out, but I am keeping it to myself," he said.

He said he wanted his country to be neutral in all conflicts. "I don't want a political party in my government that interferes in Arab countries against other Arab countries," he said.

Hariri has demanded that Hezbollah remove itself from regional conflicts such as those in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Hezbollah denies playing a military role in Yemen, but has fighters in both Iraq and Syria. Hariri said he expects Hezbollah to implement "the neutrality we agreed upon in the government and the communique in parliament, where we said we will have good relations with all Arab countries."

Iran-sponsored Hezbollah, which has representatives in Lebanon's parliament, is the focus of talks between the country's political parties on reaching an accord over representation and on limiting foreign interference in domestic politics. Hezbollah is an opponent of Hariri's Saudi Arabia-backed Future Movement, though it is also a member of Hariri's coalition government.

Hariri said Hezbollah appeared receptive to dialogue, but said he would resign if the group and Iran did not agree to rebalance Lebanon's political configuration. He did not elaborate on the new arrangement he was proposing.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun met separately on Monday with several officials, including the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Raad, who later told reporters they discussed "reactivating" the government. Raad would not answer questions about Hezbollah's disassociation from regional conflicts.

Christian leader Samir Geagea, a harsh critic of Hezbollah, told reporters after meeting Aoun that his group will not resign from the government.

"Disassociation should be in action and not through words, this means actively withdrawing from the region's conflicts," he said, referring to Hezbollah, according to The AP.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting proxy wars in the region and the conflict has affected Lebanon over the past years.

Hariri's now-withdrawn resignation came amid mounting tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saudi Arabia has accused Hezbollah of declaring war on the kingdom by supporting Yemen's Houthi rebels who fired a ballistic missile the night of Hariri's resignation that was intercepted near Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman told The New York Times last week that the bottom line is that Hariri is not going to continue to provide political cover for a Lebanese government that is essentially controlled by Hezbollah, which is essentially controlled by Iran.