Saudi King Abdullah appointed a new spy chief, giving the job to the former deputy defense minister days after sacking him from that post, SPA state news agency reported Tuesday.

Prince Khaled bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz had been unexpectedly removed from his post on Saturday at the request of his boss the defense minister, after only 45 days on the job.

President Barack Obama has deployed 200 more troops to Baghdad to protect the U.S. embassy as Iraq's parliament was set to convene Tuesday to seek a solution to the country's sectarian crisis.

"In light of the security situation in Baghdad, I have ordered up to approximately 200 additional U.S. Armed Forces personnel to Iraq to reinforce security at the U.S. Embassy, its support facilities, and the Baghdad International Airport," Obama said in a letter to Congress released Monday.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against any bid to end the house arrest of two top opposition leaders, a champion of their release told Iranian media Monday.

Lawmaker Ali Motahari, a supporter of President Hassan Rouhani, said Khamenei had told him the house arrest imposed on the two defeated 2009 presidential election candidates was a "favor" and that they would face far worse punishment if they stood trial.

French President Francois Hollande on Monday condemned what he described as the "cowardly murder" of three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were found in the West Bank three weeks after they went missing.

Hollande "strongly condemns the cowardly murder of Eyal Ifrach, Naftali Frankel and Gilad Shaer and offers his sincere condolences to their families as well as to the Israeli authorities," the presidency said in a statement.

The Turkish government said on Monday that it was against Iraq's Kurdistan region splitting away from Baghdad, after Sunni militants seized a vast swathe of territory in Turkey's conflict-torn neighbor.

"The government is very closely monitoring the developments in Iraq," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters after a cabinet meeting. 

The United States said Monday the declaration by Sunni militants of an "Islamic caliphate" on territory they have seized in Iraq and Syria has "no meaning."

"We have seen these types of words from ISIL before," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, referring to militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. 

Activists in Raqa, a stronghold of the Islamic State (IS), said Monday the jihadists have locked down the Syrian city and are shipping in new weapons, including missiles from Iraq.

"All roads leading in and out of Raqa city have been closed. Nobody can enter or leave Raqa at all right now," said Hadi Salameh, speaking to Agence France Presse via the Internet.

Israel on Monday confirmed finding the bodies of three teenagers who disappeared in the southern West Bank on June 12, blaming the Palestinian Hamas movement for their kidnapping and murder.

"During the search for Eyal Ifrach, Gilad Shaer and Naftali Frankel, the IDF discovered 3 bodies near Hebron," the Israeli army said in a statement on Twitter.

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday appealed for international support to help his country deal with regional turmoil after jihadists in neighboring Iraq and Syria declared an "Islamic caliphate".

"It is important that the international community continue to support Jordan to deal challenges and developments in the region," a palace statement quoted the king as telling a Japanese parliamentary delegation.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday that jihadists spearheading a militant offensive in Iraq have sold oil from captured areas to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Fabius said the sale was evidence of the "confusing" nature of the escalating conflict in the Middle East in which Assad and the jihadists are in theory on opposing sides.