US Secretary of State John Kirby made a number of contacts with his Egyptian, Bahraini, Jordanian, UAE, Kuwaiti and Qatari counterparts over the past 24 hours to urge calm in the region.

Kerry will continue these contacts if necessary in a bid to defuse tensions in the region, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

The US believes that dialogue and direct contacts are important for reaching settlements to the crises in the Middle East region, he added.

The US does not expect a settlement over night but hopes that leaders in the Middle East would focus more on finding settlements to the many challenges besetting the region, Kirby said.

Tensions have been running high after Saudi Arabia on Sunday cut diplomatic ties with Tehran in protest against the attack on its embassy in Tehran following the execution of a Shiita cleric.

Kuwait recalled its ambassador to Iran, joining Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates in either downgrading or cutting off ties to Tehran.

Source: MENA