Dozens of citizens staged a sit-in in the Ras al-Rumman area in Bahrain, led by the head of the Ulama Council, Sayed Majeed Al-Mashaal, in response to the Swedish authorities allowing extremists to burn the Holy Quran.

Security forces in Bahrain were present in the vicinity of the Swedish Embassy and the Beit Al Quran (House of the Quran) Museum in the capital, Manama, to prevent citizens from holding a gathering to condemn the burning of the Holy Quran.

Sweden has received "very strong indications" that a British oil tanker seized last month by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is to be released soon, Swedish public service broadcaster SVT reported on Thursday, citing sources within Sweden's foreign ministry.

The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the issuance of Security Council Resolution 2451 on the ceasefire in Yemen’s Hodeidah, and the dispatch of international observers to follow up what was agreed upon between Yemeni parties in Sweden.

The United Nations Security Council on Friday unanimously approved the deployment of a U.N. advance team to monitor a ceasefire in Yemen’s Hodeidah region after days of wrangling that pitted the United States against ally Britain.

Explosions rocked Yemen’s Red Sea city of Hodeidah for a second day on Wednesday despite a U.N.-mediated ceasefire meant to pave the way for peace negotiations to end nearly four-years of war.

Yemen’s warring parties blamed each other for violations of a U.N.-mediated ceasefire in Hodeidah meant to avert an all-out battle for a port city vital for emergency aid supplies and pave the way to peace negotiations.

The U.N. Security Council is considering a draft resolution that asks U.N. chief António Guterres to submit proposals by the end of the month on how to monitor a ceasefire agreed by Yemen’s warring parties for the key port city of Hodeidah, diplomats said on Monday.

The United Nations proposed at initial talks between Yemen’s warring parties on Tuesday that they withdraw from the contested port city of Hodeidah, a lifeline for millions facing famine, and place it under the control of an interim entity.

Yemeni Houthi officials are expected to travel to Sweden shortly for talks as early as Wednesday to end the nearly four-year-old war after the Saudi-led coalition allowed the evacuation of some of their wounded for treatment.

A delegation from Yemen's Houthis could attend talks sponsored by the United Nations in Sweden if safe exit and return is guaranteed, the Head of the Houthi's supreme revolutionary committee, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, said on Thursday.

The United Nations warned Wednesday that fuel supplies needed to run Yemen's hospital generators and pump clean water will run out in less than three weeks unless the Saudi-led coalition lifts its blockade.

Sweden demanded Bahrain to halt dissolution of opposing political societies and lift restrictions on freedom of association and assembly, especially among Shiite citizens.

Civil society organizations and institutions in Belgium and Sweden urged the British Prime Minister Theresa May to raise issue of sectarian discrimination against Shia majority in Bahrain in her upcoming visit to Manama.

The Bahraini expats in Sweden organized an event to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the February 14 uprising that erupted in Bahrain in 2011.