Riyadh, Apr 18 (AFP) Gulf Arab states have called on the international community and UN Security Council to "make flagrant Iranian interference and provocations" in Gulf affairs cease after unrest in Bahrain.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, after a meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh yesterday, called in a statement for "necessary measures" against the Islamic republic to prevent it from sowing regional discord.

The six-nation GCC called on "the international community and the Security Council to take the necessary measures to make flagrant Iranian interference and provocations aimed at sowing discord and destruction" among GCC states.

It said the GCC -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- "categorically rejects all foreign interference in its affairs... and invites the Iranian regime to stop its provocations."

The statement also slammed "aggression" against Saudi diplomats in Iran.