Iran must prove through actions that it is willing to make key policy changes to mend fences with Gulf Arabs, analysts said ahead of a landmark visit by Kuwait's emir.

The weekend visit of Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, whose country currently heads the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Arab summit, is an opportunity for Tehran to turn over a new leaf in Gulf ties, they said.

Kuwait expressed its hopes on Monday that a landmark visit by Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to visit Iran next week will strengthen security, stability and peace in the Gulf.

The visit comes amid a recent thaw in relations between Shiite Iran and the Sunni-ruled Gulf states despite high sectarian tensions over the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

The ruler of Kuwait accepted on Monday the resignation of the education minister, the second cabinet member to resign in two weeks, state-run KUNA news agency quoting an official statement.

The cabinet of the oil-rich Gulf nation was informed of the decision during its weekly meeting, the statement said.

Kuwait's appeals court Monday commuted the death sentence of an Iraqi fisherman who killed a coast guard to life imprisonment, according to the court verdict.

Taha Mahmud Sabhan was handed the death sentence by the lower court in November 2012 for killing a Kuwaiti coast guard in a shootout in January last year.

Kuwait's appeals court ordered an opposition activist to jail on Thursday to start serving a two-year sentence handed down last year for tweets deemed offensive to the Gulf state's ruler.

The court upheld the lower court's verdict against Ayyad al-Harbi, a journalist with a local online bulletin, and ordered that the jail time start immediately, without waiting for any appeal to the supreme court.

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah will travel to Iran on May 31 amid a recent thaw in Tehran's relations with Gulf states, the Iranian foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Relations between Iran and the Gulf states have been frosty for years, with disagreements over the unrest in Bahrain and the conflict in Syria, before Hassan Rouhani was elected president of the Islamic republic last June.

A Gulf rights group has called for the release of thousands of prisoners of conscience in the oil-rich Gulf states as it marked what it called Gulf Detainees Day to highlight their plight.

The Gulf monarchies do not allow political parties and criticism of rulers can easily land someone in jail.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday, in his first official visit abroad since the formation of his cabinet in February.

Salam is expected to meet with Saudi King Abdullah and several top Saudi officials.

Kuwait's parliament on Thursday accepted the resignations of five MPs who quit because the pro-government chamber refused to question the prime minister about allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Speaker Marzouk al-Ghanem declared the five seats vacant after separate votes on each of the MPs following a lengthy debate. An overwhelming majority of MPs and cabinet ministers approved the resignations.

Kuwait's Islamic Affairs Minister Nayef al-Ajmi, accused by a senior U.S. official of promoting jihad in Syria, said on Monday the Gulf state ruler has accepted his resignation.

"I thank the emir for accepting my resignation and understanding its reasons," Ajmi, who also holds the justice portfolio, said on his Twitter account without explaining the reasons.