Updated

A court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced "a group composed of Arabs and Canadians" to six months in prison after being convicted of having links to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The state-run WAM news agency said those sentenced Monday later would be deported. It did not name those sentenced or say how many there were.

The Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi referred questions to Global Affairs Canada, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Lebanese officials and Hezbollah offered no immediate comment Tuesday.

The Gulf-wide move against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah comes amid a larger dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran that stems from the kingdom's execution of a Shiite cleric in January and Iranians later storming Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic.