Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri on Monday noted that the kingdom “is closely following the developments” in Lebanon, adding that Riyadh would only issue a travel warning should it feel that its citizens are in possible danger.

“Should we feel that our citizens are in danger, we will take the right decision, but right now we are closely following the developments,” Asiri told reporters following talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail.

Kuwait advised its citizens on Monday to avoid travel to Lebanon and its nationals currently present in the country to leave due to the unstable security situation.

“The Kuwaiti authorities call on its citizens not to travel to Lebanon amid the tense security developments in the country,” the official KUNA news agency said.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stated that the situation in the northern city of Tripoli is improving “day after day”, questioning the motives of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar’s travel restrictions to Lebanon, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

He told the daily An Nahar: “The restrictions are a precautionary measure ahead of the touristic summer season.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati urged on Saturday the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain to reconsider their travel warning to Lebanon.

The premier said "the procedures taken by some Gulf countries are not justified," urging "the three countries to reconsider the travel restriction advisory to Lebanon."

The United States and 18 other countries have started in Jordan what was described as the largest military exercises in the Middle East in 10 years, focusing on "irregular warfare," top officers said on Tuesday.

"Yesterday we began to apply the skills that we have developed over the last weeks in an irregular warfare scenario ... They will last for approximately the coming two weeks," Major General Ken Tovo, head of the U.S. Special Operations Forces, told reporters in Amman.

Liberal civil society groups in Gulf States called Monday on Saudi and Bahraini leaders to postpone plans to announce a union between them, saying such a step must be preceded by a referendum.

"We urge the Saudi and Bahraini leaderships to review such a step and calculate the reactions of the two peoples," the Gulf Forum for Civil Societies said in a statement signed by its secretary general Anwar al-Rasheed.

A federal court adjourned on Wednesday a case filed by seven Islamists against the United Arab Emirates interior ministry for revoking their nationalities over alleged terror links, state media said.

The seven are all naturalized decades ago. They have been behind bars since April 9 after refusing to obtain new nationalities or face jail.

Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz has described as "unacceptable" Iran's attitude towards three islands under its control which Gulf Cooperation Council member UAE claims it owns, a report said.

"I reiterate the kingdom's condemnation to the unacceptable attitude of neighboring Iran that continues to ignore the legitimate right of the United Arab Emirates over its three occupied islands," said Prince Nayef, who is also Saudi Arabia's interior minister.

France concluded on Wednesday two weeks of war games with the United Arab Emirates, which officials from both sides insisted were not related to regional tensions involving Iran.

The exercises, held every four years, came after a simmering row over ownership of three Gulf islands contested by the Emirates and Iran, and the United States' deployment of cutting-edge F-22 fighter jets to the UAE.

The United States' deployment of cutting-edge F-22 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates "will endanger the region's security," Iran warned on Tuesday.

"We do not in any way approve the presence of foreign forces in the region. We advise the regional countries against providing a basis for their presence," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.