The Prime Minister of Iraq Adil Abdul Mahdi has agreed to tender his resignation after months of sustained protests against his administration.
In a televised speech on Thursday aired on Iraq's Al-Iraqiya TV, the president Barham Salih said that the prime minister gave a condition for resigning, saying that he would only do so if a replacement is found.
"The prime minister has agreed to resign," President Salih said
Renowned cleric and one of Iraq's most powerful politicians Muqtada al-Sadr had been pushing for the prime minister to be removed from power.
The crippling protests were touched of by the country's growing economic crisis that has been responsible for record levels of unemployment.
Protesters are also angry at what they see as government corruption.
The protests are believed to be the biggest since the protests that drove Saddam Hussein from power.
The government has frantically been trying to restore order by employing lethal force but the strategy has only added more fuel to the protests rather than quell them.
Over 250 people are belived to have lost their lives in confrontations with the security forces.
Amnesty International has slammed the Iraqi security forces of using excess force on the protesters.
"What we've documented with these grenades in Baghdad goes far beyond misuse of a 'safer' weapon - the very design of the grenades being used is maximising the horrific injuries and death," said Lyn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Middle East director.
President Barham Salih has promised new elections soon.