Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun asserted that he is the sole strong presidential candidate that should be voted as head of state, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

He also added that only “foreign powers” are impeding his election, which al-Joumhouria said he was hinting at Saudi Arabia.

An international team of scientists say they have identified a compound that can fight coronaviruses, responsible for the SARS and MERS outbreaks, which currently have no cure. 

Coronaviruses affected the upper and lower respiratory tracts in humans. They are the reason for up to a third of common colds. 

Iran must prove through actions that it is willing to make key policy changes to mend fences with Gulf Arabs, analysts said ahead of a landmark visit by Kuwait's emir.

The weekend visit of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, whose country currently heads the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Arab summit, is an opportunity for Tehran to turn over a new leaf in Gulf ties, they said.

Saudi Arabia has invited Iran to attend a meeting of Islamic bloc foreign ministers in Jeddah next month, an Iranian official said in comments published Thursday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian welcomed the "friendly" gesture by Iran's regional rival, with which relations have been strained by the Syrian conflict and the fallout from unrest in Bahrain.

A Saudi court sentenced to death a Shiite protester convicted of attacking police forces during unrest in the east, local media reported Wednesday, in the second such ruling this week.

Scores of Shiites are on trial in Saudi Arabia after they were detained for involvement in anti-regime protests staged in the oil-rich Eastern Province since February 2011.

Lebanese authorities deported to Riyadh two Saudi nationals based on a request by their country as another batch of detainees is expected to follow, a Saudi diplomat told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Wednesday.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri confirmed in remarks to the daily that the Lebanese state extradited Abdullah Ahmed Mohammed al-Bishi to Riyadh on Tuesday evening.

A Saudi court sentenced to death a Shiite protester convicted of opening fire on a police patrol during unrest in the kingdom's east, local media reported on Tuesday.

The sentence is the heaviest handed to a protester in the trial of scores detained over their involvement in anti-regime protests in the oil-rich Eastern Province since February 2011.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq lashed out at the resistance on Tuesday, saying that the arms of Hizbullah should be removed from the country's political equation.

“I believe that we surpassed the period of the resistance. It became a regional power that even the Lebanese don't have the decision whether to use it or not,” Mashnouq said in an interview with the Saudi al-Watan newspaper.

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin said that dialogue between Riyadh and Tehran helps the rival parties to agree on a new president but the solution to the political crisis should be made in Lebanon.

In remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily published on Tuesday, Zasypkin said: “The Iranian-Saudi dialogue is a helping factor but the solution (should be) Lebanese.”

Saudi Arabia has arrested nine university professors for their alleged links to the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement, media reported on Monday.

Investigators found the professors, two Saudis and the rest from neighbouring countries, had been involved with "foreign organisations" based on "voice recordings and emails" linked to them, Okaz daily reported.