The deportation order is likely another attempt to ease an unprecedented diplomatic rift between Lebanon and several Gulf Arab nations, including Bahrain, a Sunni monarchy with a majority Shia population.

Bahrain in 2016 suspended Al-Wefaq, the island nation's largest opposition political party, as part of its crackdown on dissent that erupted following the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings in the region.

The party, many of its members now living in exile, last week held a press conference in Beirut to launch its annual human rights report.

It wasn't immediately clear how many Al-Wefaq members will be impacted by the decision. According to a statement published on Lebanon's state-run news agency, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi on Wednesday spoke over the phone with his Bahraini counterpart, Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa.

The call was followed by his decision to ask Lebanese General Security to deport non-Lebanese members of Al-Wefaq.

Bahrain said it ``strongly protests'' what it described as Lebanon hosting ``hostile members who have been designated as supporters of terrorism'' to spread false information that defames the Gulf Arab nation.

It called on Lebanon to bar such events, saying they ``are not harmonious with brotherly relations.''

The diplomatic row between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries broke out in late October when remarks by Minister George Kordahi were aired, critical of the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain, withdrew their ambassadors and asked the Lebanese envoys to leave their capitals.

After weeks of resisting, Kordahi resigned.

Bahrain accuses Iran of backing Al-Wefaq, which is also seen as an ally of Hezbollah.