The Arab League called on Tehran on Monday to halt what it described as a media campaign against Bahrain over a proposal for political and military union between Gulf  states.

'The Iranian government must stop its media escalation campaign and provocative statements from Iranian officials regarding the situation in Bahrain,' Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said in a statement.

'Any union steps between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are a sovereign issue of the two states and other Gulf countries and no other country has the right to interfere in it,' he said.

Iranian state television aired last week footage of thousands of people holding rallies around the country protesting against the proposed Manama-Riyadh union and an influential cleric denounced the idea as an 'ill-fated plot'.

Tension between Iran and US-allied Gulf states has run high in recent months, with Arab leaders accusing the Islamic Republic of fomenting Shi'ite Muslim unrest in Bahrain - a charge that Tehran and the protesters deny.-Reuters