Qatar said on Sunday that it had received an invitation from Saudi Arabia to attend emergency regional talks to discuss mounting tensions between Iran and the United States.

Saudi Arabia does not want war but will not hesitate to defend itself against Iran, a top Saudi diplomat said Sunday amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf after attacks on the kingdom's energy sector.

Adel al-Jubeir, the minister of state for foreign affairs, spoke a week after four oil tankers— two of them Saudi— were targeted in an alleged act of sabotage off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and days after Iran-allied Yemeni rebels claimed a drone attack on a Saudi oil pipeline.

Drone attacks claimed by Iran-aligned Yemen rebels shut down one of Saudi Arabia's major oil pipelines Tuesday, further ratcheting up Gulf tensions after the mysterious sabotage of several tankers.

A Saudi cargo ship that had been expected to pick up a hugely controversial shipment of French arms from France's Le Havre will not dock there, a port source said Friday. 

The French government confirmed Wednesday that a new shipment of weapons will head for Saudi Arabia, despite claims Riyadh is using the arms in the Yemen war.

Iran said Wednesday it hopes to have good relations with arch-rival Saudi Arabia and its allies, and called for an end to their bitter dispute with Gulf neighbour Qatar.

Saudi Arabia has no immediate plans to raise oil output after the United States ends sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian crude, energy minister Khalid al-Falih said Wednesday.

The Saudi-led coalition launched an air raid Saturday on a cave in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, used by Huthi rebels to stockpile drones, a spokesman said.

Two Saudi sisters have issued a plea for international protection after fleeing to ex-Soviet Georgia in the latest case of women fleeing oppression in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

In a post on a Twitter account called @GeorgiaSisters, the women said they were "trapped in Georgia" after Saudi authorities cancelled their passports.

Eleven Saudi women's rights activists were due back in court Wednesday in a trial that has drawn international criticism, just days after campaigners reported a new crackdown on their supporters.