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The Western-backed coalition, which controls Yemen’s airspace and port access, said last month it would allow humanitarian aid through Hodeidah following a nearly three-week blockade imposed because of a missile attack towards the Saudi capital’s international airport.
The Saudis say the Red Sea port, which is Yemen’s main entry point for food and humanitarian supplies, is also a hub used by the Iran-allied Houthi rebels to bring in weapons.
On Wednesday, the coalition confirmed it would keep access open to the port despite a further ballistic missile attack at Riyadh on Tuesday by the Houthis which Saudi forces also intercepted.
“Keen to maintain humanitarian aid to the brotherly Yemeni people and as a result of intensified inspection measures, the coalition command announces that Hodeidah port will remain open for humanitarian and relief supplies,” the coalition said in a statement carried by Saudi state news agency SPA on Wednesday.
The coalition said ships bringing in fuel and food would also be allowed to enter for another 30 days while proposals made by the United Nations envoy to Yemen were implemented, it added.
The agency did not elaborate on the proposals. But the coalition has been demanding that a U.N. inspection regime agreed in 2015 be further tightened to prevent weapons from reaching the Houthis.
More about: #Saudi-Arabia #Yemen
