Iran's foreign ministry has strongly protested against a Saudi accusation that it was directly linked to an alleged spy cell busted last week in the kingdom, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said on Tuesday that the cell it dismantled last week had "direct links" to Iran's intelligence services.

Syria's President Bashar Assad on Wednesday met with a committee tasked with forging a political solution to the country's spiraling conflict, state media said.

"President Assad held a meeting with a committee tasked with putting in place a program for a political solution to the crisis in Syria," said SANA news agency.

President Bashar Assad's regime lashed out against the Arab League on Wednesday for giving the opposition Syria's seat, and said the group could no longer play a role in solving the crisis.

"The decision taken by the Arab League on Tuesday has permanently eliminated it from playing a role in a solution for the crisis in Syria, because it has become part of the problem rather than its solution," a government statement said.

The Syrian opposition opened in Qatar on Wednesday its first "embassy," a day after opponents of President Bashar Assad were given Damascus's seat at the Arab League.

Opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib and Qatari State Minister for Foreign Affairs Khaled al-Attiya inaugurated the representative office dubbed the "Embassy of the Syrian National Coalition".

Russia on Wednesday called the Arab League's decision to award Syria's seat at the organization to the anti-regime National Coalition "illegal and indefensible".

"In terms of international law, the League's decision on Syria is illegal and indefensible because the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was and is the legitimate representative member-state at the United Nations," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Syrian warplanes launched two strikes on Qaboon in northeastern Damascus on Wednesday, as rebels fighters seized three army posts near the ceasefire line with Israel, a watchdog said.

"Two air strikes were carried out on rebel-held buildings in Qaboon," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that violence in Damascus has risen after insurgents seized control of Jobar district in the city's east.

Iran's foreign ministry on Wednesday criticized as a "dangerous precedent" the Arab League's decision to allocate Syria's long-vacant seat to the Syrian opposition.

Opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib took Syria's seat at the League on Tuesday as Arab leaders gathered in Doha for their annual summit, sparking a furious reaction from Damascus.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has appealed to the leaders of a five-nation economic forum to intervene to stop the violence in Syria and encourage dialogue in his country's two-year conflict.

Assad said Syria is being subjected to "acts of terrorism backed by Arab, regional and Western nations" — a reference to the Western-backed opposition fighting his regime.

The White House said Tuesday that NATO would not provide Patriot missile batteries to protect rebel strongholds in Syria, following a request from opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib.

Khatib asked for an extension of the umbrella provided by Patriot positions on the Turkish border designed to intercept any missiles fired from the Syrian side, as he took his seat at the Arab League summit in Doha.

A group of prominent Syrian opposition members on Tuesday criticized the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Syrian National Coalition and accused regional governments of "hegemony" over the body.

In a letter addressed to the Arab League, which is meeting in Doha, the group warned that the opposition was experiencing a crisis as a result.