Yemen's pro-rebel ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has rejected further peace talks with the government, saying dialogue should instead take place with Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh has been leading a military campaign since March against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels, who have also been supported by Saleh loyalists.

Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired on its territory from Yemen's rebel-held capital, the Saudi-led coalition announced on Sunday, in the latest cross-border attack on the kingdom.

Saudi air defense forces intercepted "a Scud missile fired from Sanaa in Yemen towards the city of Najran" late on Saturday, said the coalition that has been battling rebels in Yemen since March.

Saudi King Salman accused Syrian President Bashar Assad Wednesday of having aided the rise of the Islamic State group and called for a political settlement with moderate forces to end the war there.

The solution would be to form "a transitional government made up of moderate opposition forces, ensuring the unity of Syrians and the departure of foreign forces and terrorist organizations," the king said in an annual speech to the consultative Shura Council.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri hoped that the country would be able to resolve the deadlock in the presidency and elect a new head of state.

He said after holding talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi: “We urge all officials against wasting any effort to find solutions to pending crises.”

Contacts are ongoing between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the political deadlock in Lebanon, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Tuesday.

A political source told the daily that Saudi Arabia has played a main role in the nomination of Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh as president.

Diplomatic efforts are being made to open "direct dialogue" between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, a spokesman for Tehran's foreign ministry said on Monday.

"Diplomatic efforts are underway between Iran and Saudi Arabia to prepare the ground for direct dialogue to resolve differences and regional issues," Hossein Jaber Ansari told reporters.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri questioned on Friday how some sides have made “quick assumptions” over the Islamic coalition, saying that they have jumped to conclusions over the issue.

He said: “Those who have criticized the alliance have misunderstood its purpose and made unrealistic analyses.”

An invitation to attend a meeting on the recently announced Islamic coalition will be made soon and Lebanon will be among those invited, reported As Safir newspaper on Friday.

The invitation will be addressed to the Defense Ministry, which includes the Army Command, to name who will represent it at the meeting that will likely be held by the end of next week in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam believes that some sides were quick to “make assumptions” over the Islamic alliance that was announced by Saudi Arabia and which Lebanon has decided to join, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.

“Salam noted that they jumped to conclusions in this issue before hearing the constitutional and legal aspects of the alliance,” his sources told the daily.

Gunmen kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters in southern Iraq, officials said on Wednesday, the second high-profile abduction of foreigners in the country in three months.

Turkey, which like Qatar is at odds with various Iraqi groups over regional issues, had 18 of its citizens abducted in Iraq in early September. They were eventually released unharmed.