Hundreds of Iranian university students have staged a rally to protest against a bid for the merger of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain pursuant to the recent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) union plan, the local satellite Press TV reported on Monday.

During the rally held in front of the UN mission in Tehran on Sunday, the Iranian demonstrators chanted slogans in condemnation of the proposal, and expressed solidarity with the Bahraini people.

"We are here to show our support for the innocent people of Bahrain and to protest against the plan to merge Bahrain with Saudi Arabia," a female protester told Press TV.

On Friday, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Tehran University after the Friday prayers and chanted slogans against the GCC union plan which they accused of preparing the ground for Saudi Arabian unity with Bahrain.

During the 14th GCC summit that concluded in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week, leaders of GCC members, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ( UAE), discussed whether to establish a closer union for the six states.

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar leaders during the summit backed up the formation of the GCC Union, while Kuwait and the UAE said they want more time to review and Oman rejected the integration of political, economic, security and other sectors of common interests.

Bahrain's parliament affirmed that joining the GCC union is a right step that will achieve security, stability and economic prosperity for its citizens and protect the region against " hostile" states such as Iran.

Last Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast warned that Saudi Arabia's plan to form a GCC union leads to further crisis in Bahrain.

On the following day, Iran's Judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani described Saudi Arabia's plan to as dangerous. "The Westerners and Arab states have started a dangerous game after they saw that the people of Bahrain do not give up their inalienable rights throughout time," Larijani said.

On Saturday, a Bahraini pro-government cleric said the ambitious GCC Union would not affect the sovereignty of each of the six oil-rich Gulf states, but bring them closer to form a "new Middle East."

Shaikh Abdullatif Al Mahmood, leader of the National Unity Assembly (NUA), Bahrain's largest pro-government group, said so when meeting thousands of supporters at the Al Fateh mosque who called for unification of the GCC states.

"The importance of having a strong and meaningful union between GCC states (is) to protect us from the dangers of becoming divided and scattered similar to the current state of our neighbors and brothers in Iraq," said Al Mahmood.