Kuwait lodged an official protest with Iran on Tuesday over statements that Tehran plans to unilaterally develop a disputed gas field, the official KUNA news agency said.

Foreign ministry Undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah summoned Iranian Charge d'Affaires Sayed Tahabi and handed him a protest letter over the statements made a few days ago by a top Iranian oil executive, KUNA said.

Hundreds of stateless people in Kuwait demonstrated on Friday for the third week demanding citizenship and basic rights, carrying banners reading: "I have a dream."

Women, children and men took part in the rally in Jahra, northwest of Kuwait City, which has become the epicenter of weekly protests for stateless people to press for their rights.

Hundreds of stateless Arabs living in Kuwait demonstrated for the second week in a row demanding citizenship and other rights, Agence France Presse reported.

Kuwaiti activists, former MPs and representatives from the Kuwait Association for Human Rights attended the rally in Jahra, northwest of Kuwait City, as police watched without interfering.

The Gulf state of Kuwait, home to 105,000 stateless people, may grant citizenship to 34,000 of them, the head of a government authority overseeing their affairs has said.

"We will consider making a recommendation to grant citizenship to 34,000 stateless," head of the central agency for illegal residents, Saleh al-Fadhalah, told state-run Kuwait TV late on Wednesday.

Candidates began registering on Wednesday for Kuwait's early polls called by the ruler after dissolving parliament over a political crisis amid high hopes for massive change and relative stability.

"The change in this election will be huge thanks to the young generation who will play a pivotal role in the polls," Hussein Jamal, contesting for the second time, told Agence France Presse after filing nomination papers for the February 2 polls.

Kuwait will hold parliamentary elections on February 2, an official statement said on Sunday, the fourth poll in under six years for the OPEC Gulf state as it seeks political stability.

Education and Justice Minister Ahmed al-Mulaifi said after a cabinet meeting that the government approved a decree calling on an estimated 400,000 Kuwaiti voters to elect a new parliament on February 2, according to the statement.

Two Kuwaiti journalists who were detained in Iran for more than a month on spying charges returned home on Sunday after being freed, the Gulf emirate's media reported.

Adel al-Yahya, a presenter for private satellite television channel al-Adalah, and freelance cameraman Raed al-Majed flew in on a special flight ordered by the Kuwaiti emir, the al-Watan daily reported on its website.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah on Wednesday swore in the new cabinet with only minor changes to the government that resigned in November over allegations of corruption.

Sheikh Sabah urged Kuwaiti voters to abandon factional, sectarian and tribal allegiances while choosing representatives in an upcoming general election which he said would usher in a new era for the oil-rich Gulf state.

Kuwait prosecutors have questioned two former MPs over money laundering charges after millions of dollars were allegedly deposited in their bank accounts, local media reported Tuesday.

Kuwait's al-Jarida newspaper, one of four local papers to report on the interrogations, said former pro-government lawmakers Mukhled al-Azemi and Hussein al-Huraiti were interrogated late Monday on the source of the funds.

Kuwait Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah on Tuesday issued a decree dissolving the Gulf state parliament, state television reported, citing a "threat to supreme national interests."

"An emiri decree has been issued to dissolve the national assembly," the television said.