Beirut: Saad al-Hariri returned to Beirut on Tuesday for the first time since he resigned as prime minister in a statement delivered from Saudi Arabia that plunged Lebanon into crisis.

Hariri’s sudden resignation on Nov. 4 thrust Lebanon to the forefront of regional tussle between the Sunni monarchy of Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Islamist Iran, whose powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah is part of the Beirut government.

Hariri, a long-time ally of Saudi Arabia, cited fear of assassination and meddling by Iran and Hezbollah in the Arab world in his resignation speech. The move caught even his aides off guard, and Lebanese state officials and politicians close to Hariri say Riyadh forced him to quit and held him in Riyadh.

Riyadh and Hariri have denied this.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who dispatched envoys to urge foreign states to secure Hariri’s return from Saudi Arabia, has refused to accept the resignation until he returns to present it in person.

Hariri drove straight from Beirut airport to read a prayer at the grave of his father, Rafik al-Hariri, whose 2005 assassination forced him into politics.

Asked if had a message for the Lebanese, who have largely united in demanding his return, Hariri said: ‘Thank you’.

Hariri is expected to take part in Lebanese independence day celebrations on Wednesday.

Earlier, Hariri met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, saying after the meeting that he would announce his ‘political position’ once he got to Lebanon. It is not yet clear if he will stick by the resignation or rescind it.

In a November 12 interview from Saudi Arabia with a TV station that he owns, Hariri said he would return to Lebanon to confirm his resignation. But he also held out the possibility of withdrawing it if Hezbollah respected Lebanon’s policy of staying out of regional conflicts, notably Yemen.

Following an intervention by France, Hariri departed Riyadh for Paris at the weekend. He flew into Beirut from Cyprus where he stopped for a 45-minute meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades.

In his meeting with Egypt’s Sisi, Hariri said he discussed Lebanon’s stability and the necessity of keeping the country out of ‘all regional politics’.