UN Security Council urges warring Yemen parties to agree port control

UN Security Council has urged the warring parties in Yemen to reach a UN brokered deal on management of the strategic port and city of Hodeidah and resumption of government salary payments as the country slides closer to famine. 

It warned a Saudi Arabia-led Arab coalition fighting Iran-aligned Houthis against any attempt to extend the war to Hodeidah, a vital Red Sea aid delivery point where some 80 per cent of Yemen's food imports



arrive. 

The 15-member body said in a statement that the Security Council stresses the importance of keeping all Yemen's ports functioning, including Hodeidah port, as a critical lifeline for humanitarian support and other essential supplies.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that the United States believed the port could be placed under the control of a third unnamed authority to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.