U.S. acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Monday he had approved sending a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East because of indications of a "credible threat by Iranian regime forces," but did not provide any details on the underlying intelligence.

An Iranian tanker was forced to seek repairs at a Saudi port after suffering "engine failure and loss of control", the Iranian oil ministry's SHANA news agency reported Thursday.

Qatar, which hosts the largest U.S. air base in the Middle East, has spoken out against Washington’s decision to block all exports of Iranian oil, saying unilateral sanctions were unwise because they hurt the countries that rely on the supplies.

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.

Iran will continue to export oil despite U.S. pressure aimed at reducing the country's crude shipments to zero, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard successfully managed a surveillance flight over a U.S. aircraft carrier, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that Iran and its people will not forget stances of Saudi Arabian and Bahraini governments in these historic circumstances.

A British website said that among the 37 men executed in Saudi Arabia over "Terrorism Offences" was a religious leader who had preached for peace between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Bahrain News Agency said that Bahrain has welcomed the decision of the US decision regarding the sanctions on importers of Iranian oil.

The United States called on Iran to keep the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab open, a State Department official said on Tuesday after the United States a day earlier demanded that Iran oil buyers halt their purchases by May 1.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday the United States is not extending any waivers exempting importers of Iranian oil from U.S. sanctions and there will be no grace period for those economies to comply.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Bahram Ghasemi said that awkward and unwise stances of Saudi and Bahraini officials towards designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization prove that they have a limited understanding about realities and developments of the region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Tuesday that Washington's decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group "could have negative repercussions on Iraq and the region".

President Donald Trump said on Monday he would name Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, in an unprecedented step that drew Iranian condemnation and raised concerns about retaliatory attacks on U.S. forces.

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry on Monday welcomed the U.S. decision to designate Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organization.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights united Washington’s Arab allies and their regional foe Iran in condemnation on Tuesday.

The United States granted Iraq a 90-day waiver exempting it from sanctions to buy energy from Iran, a State Department official said on Wednesday, the latest extension allowing Baghdad to keep purchasing electricity from its neighbor.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani sharply criticised U.S. military intervention in the Middle East on Monday as he began a first official visit to Iraq, aimed at shoring up Tehran's influence and expanding trade ties.

Iranian naval forces intervened to repel pirates who attacked an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, state television reported on Friday.

Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, attacked Qatar again in a statement made to an Emirati newspaper on the sidelines of the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Abu Dhabi.