The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards on Sunday warned of retaliation against the Gulf's strategic Strait of Hormuz, U.S. bases in the Middle East and Israel if his country was to be attacked.

General Mohammed Ali Jaafari, speaking in a very rare news conference in Tehran, also said that he believed Iran would abandon the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty should it be targeted for military action.

A fugitive Lebanese-American businessman fighting fiscal corruption charges in Dubai has been returned to the United Arab Emirates after fleeing to Yemen, a spokesman said Saturday.

The return of Zack Shahin to UAE custody ends his bid to get American diplomatic assistance to return to the U.S. via Yemen and presumably escape a legal battle in Dubai dating back to 2008.

Etihad Airways, the UAE's national airline, said on Thursday it has suspended flights between Abu Dhabi and Damascus with immediate effect because of the deteriorating security situation in Syria.

"The decision, while not taken lightly, has been made due to the deteriorating security position in Syria," the airline said.

Kuwait urged all nationals currently present on Lebanese territories to leave the country “immediately.”

“All the Kuwaiti citizens currently in Lebanon should leave amid fears that the security situation might deteriorate in Lebanon due to the swift developments in Syria,” a source in the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said.

Australia has signed a nuclear supply treaty with the United Arab Emirates in a deal Foreign Minister Bob Carr said would see the Gulf state become Canberra's first Middle Eastern uranium customer.

Carr and UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyam inked the deal in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, with the Australian minister describing it as a "step forward" for the Emirates' domestic nuclear power plans.

Syria's regime confirmed on Thursday the defection of three diplomats, but downplayed its importance and indirectly accused Qatar of encouraging "national division."

The foreign ministry confirmed the defections of Lamia Hariri, charge d'affaires in Cyprus, her husband Abdel Latif al-Dabbagh, ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and Mohammed Tahsin al-Fakir, security attache in Oman.

Syrian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Abdul-Latif al-Dabbagh has defected, al-Jazeera TV reported Wednesday.

The Doha based television said that Dabbagh defected but it did not say where he was.

An international media watchdog on Tuesday urged the United Arab Emirates to release a group of Internet activists held on charges of "opposing the constitution."

The Gulf state had arrested 18 "campaigners and rights activists" between July 16 and 19, said Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Only one of them has been released.

Switzerland on Friday lifted an arms embargo against the United Arab Emirates after the two sides agreed to investigate how Swiss hand grenades sold to the UAE wound up in Syria, the government said.

The temporary embargo was imposed on July 4 after Swiss media published photographs of hand grenades manufactured by the Swiss group Ruag found at an unspecified location in Syria.

Ramadan will begin on Friday in most Arab countries, religious authorities announced, but in Oman and Syria as well as for Iraq's Sunni Muslims and in non-Arab Iran it will start on Saturday.

Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, as well as Lebanon's Sunni Muslims, were among those to announce a Friday start.