Sweden is seeking to quell an unprecedented diplomatic spat over human rights with Saudi Arabia which has seen ambassadors recalled and arms sales cancelled, drawing comparisons with Denmark's Mohammed cartoons controversy.

Stockholm's relations with Riyadh have nosedived since leftist Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem told parliament in a February speech the oil-rich state was a "dictatorship" that violated women's rights and whipped bloggers.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil had intended to travel to Saudi Arabia over the weekend but the visit was canceled the last minute over Riyadh's role in pushing for the adoption of a statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council that condemns Hizbullah, sources said.

Bassil, a Free Patriotic Movement official, denied on Monday that he visited Riyadh to meet with Saudi officials or possibly al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal allegedly reiterated to al-Mustaqbal Movement chief and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri his complete rejection to allow Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun to reach the Baabda Palace.

Sources told As Safir newspaper published on Tuesday that Faisal's comments came during a meeting with Hariri in presence of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz shortly after the Lebanese official's visit to Lebanon in February.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Monday that Iran, which is negotiating with world powers on its nuclear program, should not get "undeserved deals."

"It is impossible that Iran should get undeserved deals," Prince Saud said at a joint news conference with visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi received an invitation from King Salman to visit Saudi Arabia, as relations between the two nations improve, the premier's office said.

Ties between Baghdad and Riyadh have become steadily better since Abadi took office last year after reaching a low ebb under his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki, who accused Saudi Arabia of backing militants in Iraq while it criticized him as sectarian.

Oil producers outside OPEC must cooperate to boost falling crude prices as the cartel refuses to take responsibility alone, Saudi Arabia's oil minister has said.

"We refuse to take responsibility alone because (OPEC) produces 30 percent of market output and 70 percent comes from outside," Ali al-Naimi said in remarks carried Monday by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

U.S. consular services in Saudi Arabia resumed on Sunday following a week-long closure over unspecified "heightened security concerns."

The American embassy in Riyadh and consular offices in Jeddah and Dhahran have resumed operations, an embassy spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is scheduled to travel to Lebanon in April to oversee the first shipment of weapons to the Lebanese army as part of a deal with Saudi Arabia that was reached in 2014, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Saturday.

It said that the minister is set to arrive in Lebanon on April 20 for a two-day visit.

A high-ranking French military delegation is expected to arrive in Beirut on Friday to commence training of Lebanese army personnel on the use of weapons to be delivered by Paris under $3 billion Saudi grant.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper, the delegation will stay in Lebanon for a long time as the “deal requires a specialized follow up by France.”

The United Arab Emirates recalled its ambassador from Sweden Wednesday, widening a diplomatic row triggered by the Nordic country's criticism of Saudi Arabia.

The protest came a week after Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Stockholm, citing Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem's criticism of its human rights and democracy record in the Swedish parliament.