Syria's government on Tuesday rejected the possibility of the Arab League deploying troops in the unrest-swept country as suggested by the emir of Qatar and said its people would confront such action.

"Syria rejects the statements of officials of Qatar on sending Arab troops to worsen the crisis... and pave the way for foreign intervention," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

At least 32 people were killed in Syria on Tuesday, including four army deserters, as a blast killed eight civilians in the northwestern province of Idlib, activists and a human rights group said.

"Eight civilians were killed by a device that exploded as their minibus passed on the road between Idlib and Aleppo," in the north, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, without specifying the identity of the assailants.

Iran has boosted security for all its nuclear workers after one of its scientists was assassinated last week, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said Tuesday.

"Whoever is active in the nuclear field will be put under special care," Rahimi said in remarks reported by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran on Tuesday warned Saudi Arabia to reconsider its vow to make up for any shortfall in Iranian oil exports under new sanctions, saying Riyadh's pledge to step into the market was unfriendly.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi issued the warning in an interview with Iran's Arabic language broadcaster al-Alam.

Kuwait has decided to deport stateless people who took part in protests demanding citizenship which turned violent, newspapers reported Tuesday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Central Agency for Illegal Residents, which deals with the stateless people known as bidoons, chaired by Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmed al-Humud al-Sabah, al-Anbaa newspaper reported.

Gunmen attacked a police checkpoint in Iraq's western desert, close to the Syrian and Jordanian borders, killing five policemen early on Tuesday, security and medical officials said.

The attack took place soon after midnight about 500 kilometers west of Baghdad in mostly Sunni Anbar province, according to a police officer in Ramadi, the provincial capital.

Iran on Tuesday denied an allegation from France that it was sending weapons to its ally Syria in violation of a U.N. embargo.

"The declarations from French officials are incorrect," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in a regular weekly briefing.

Yemen's foreign minister has warned that insecurity resulting from months of mass protests and political unrest could delay presidential elections planned for next month.

"If we don't deal with the security challenges ... it might be difficult to hold elections (as scheduled) on February 21," Abu Bakr al-Qurbi said in an interview with al-Arabiya television Tuesday.

The United Nations said Monday that it would start training Arab League observers monitoring the deadly crackdown in Syria within days.

A formal request for help has been made by the Arab League and the U.N. has agreed to start the training in Cairo after League foreign ministers meet this weekend, a U.N. spokeswoman, Vannina Maestracci, told Agence France Presse.

The Free Syrian Army on Monday urged the Arab League to let the U.N. handle the crisis in Syria, accusing President Bashar al-Assad's regime of pressing on with a crackdown despite an Arab plan to end the unrest.