Saudi Arabia on Thursday warned its citizens against travelling to Iran and asked those who went there in February to contact the health ministry amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The warning was made after five novel coronavirus cases, four of them Saudi citizens who returned from Iran, have been registered in the kingdom, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The cases arrived via Bahrain or Kuwait without disclosing the fact that they had travelled to Iran to the Saudi authorities.

A statement published by the Saudi Press Agency urged on Thursday citizens who are currently in Iran to immediately report their travel to Iran upon arrival in the kingdom.