Lebanese politician Michel Moawad on Wednesday urged lawmakers to back his bid for the presidency, denouncing Hezbollah's "stranglehold" on the crisis-hit country.

MPs have been unable to pick a successor to President Michel Aoun whose term ends next week, stoking fears of a political crisis that would further compound three years of economic meltdown.

"I am practically the only serious candidate running for the presidency," Moawad told AFP in an interview, adding that he had "support from a large majority of the opposition".

US President Joe Biden and Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday discussed the growing threat to Ukraine from Russia's Iranian-supplied war drones, as Israel comes under pressure to help Kyiv.

Herzog told reporters at the White House after his talks that they "mainly" discussed Iran's nuclear program, the crushing of protesters demonstrating against strict Iranian religious laws, and the issue of Tehran's drone sales to Russia.

The weapons are "killing innocent Ukrainian citizens," Herzog said.

A United Nations agency warned Wednesday that more Palestinians living in crisis-torn Lebanon have fallen deeper into poverty, spelling a "dramatic humanitarian crisis".

For three years Lebanon has been in the throes of one of the worst economic crises in recent history according to the World Bank -- dealing an especially heavy blow to vulnerable communities including refugees.

Protests raged through the night in Iran after thousands of mourners marked 40 days since the death of Mahsa Amini which sparked a wave of unrest across the Islamic republic.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, three days after her arrest in Tehran by the notorious morality police for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women.

Anger flared at her funeral last month and quickly sparked protests led by young women who have burned their headscarves and confronted security forces, in the biggest wave of unrest in Iran for years.

Iranian mourners gathered Wednesday at the grave of Mahsa Amini to mark 40 days since her death, defying heightened security measures as part of a bloody crackdown on women-led protests.

"Woman, life, freedom" and "Death to the dictator", dozens of men and women chanted at the Aichi cemetery in Saqez, Amini's home town in the western province of Kurdistan, in videos shared online.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, three days after her arrest by the notorious morality police while visiting Tehran with her younger brother.

With her tattooed arms bare and her head uncovered, Talia looks somewhat out of place shopping at a Jerusalem discount supermarket that caters to modestly dressed ultra-Orthodox Jews.

"I have no choice but to come here," the 32-year-old nurse told AFP, asking not to be fully named as she discusses her family's financial struggles at a time food prices are surging in Israel.

She worries about being able to feed her two children even though she and her husband, who repairs household appliances, "work like crazy", including night shifts for her and weekend jobs for him.

Iranian students protested Tuesday at multiple universities, defying a bloody crackdown as tensions mount on the eve of planned ceremonies marking 40 days since Mahsa Amini's death.

"A student may die but will not accept humiliation," they chanted at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, in an online video verified by AFP.

Young women and schoolgirls have been at the forefront of protests sparked by Amini's death last month, after her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

Israel's president said Tuesday he was sharing intelligence with the United States to prove Iran supplied Russian-operated drones that have reaped destruction in Ukraine, as he urged a tough response.

The United States and European Union have already reached a similar conclusion but Israel has been pushing for tough action against Iran's clerical state, which it views as its biggest threat.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister on Tuesday blasted the release of emergency oil stocks as an attempt to "manipulate markets", the latest apparent salvo in a spat with Washington over oil production.

"People are depleting their emergency stocks, had depleted it, used it as a mechanism to manipulate markets while its profound purpose was to mitigate shortage of supply," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told an investor conference in the Saudi capital.

"However, it is my profound duty to make it clear to the world that losing emergency stock may become painful in the months to come."

Saudi Arabia's energy minister on Tuesday blasted the release of emergency oil stocks as an attempt to "manipulate markets", the latest apparent salvo in a spat with Washington over oil production.

"People are depleting their emergency stocks, had depleted it, used it as a mechanism to manipulate markets while its profound purpose was to mitigate shortage of supply," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told an investor conference in the Saudi capital.

"However, it is my profound duty to make it clear to the world that losing emergency stock may become painful in the months to come."