The warring parties in Yemen should allow more aid to be distributed to the 8,4 million people in the country who are "one step ahead of the famine", a senior UN official said on Monday.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen closed all the country's ports and airports last month after blocking a rocket fired by Shi'ite rebels over Riyadh.
Jamie McGoldrick, Yemen's humanitarian co-ordinator, said Yemen's blockade had eased since then, but that the situation remained "very difficult".
"The continued blockade of ports is reducing supplies of fuel, food and medicine, while dramatically increasing the number of vulnerable people in need of assistance," McGoldrick said.
"The lives of millions of people, including the 8,4 million Yemenis who are one step ahead of the famine, depend on our ability to continue our operations and provide safe water, food, shelter, health services and food support," he said.
This is an increase from the 8 million estimated by the UN earlier this year to be on the brink of starvation.
The Arab League accuses Iran of sending weapons to the Houthis, including missile supplies, through Yemen's central port of Hodeidah, through which the bulk of humanitarian aid passes.
Saudi television reported yesterday that a delegation of UN experts had arrived in Riyadh to meet with the Saudi-backed coalition and government in Yemen "to prevent the transfer of weapons and rockets to the Houthis."
Iran denies supplying weapons to the Houthis, saying the allegations by the United States and Saudi Arabia were "baseless."
The U.S. government on Friday called on the Arab League to facilitate the free passage of humanitarian aid to all Yemeni ports and Sanaa airport.
A senior State Department official told reporters in Geneva yesterday that the United States had provided $ 638 million in humanitarian aid to Yemen for fiscal year 2017, which ended Sept. 30.
"We have called on both sides to stop hostilities and seek a political solution to the problem," he said.
According to him, the US has made it clear to its allies that it must lift its blockade of Yemen and has asked the Houthis to allow full access to humanitarian aid as "there is a shocking shortage of food, fuel and medicine, which is causing a lot of suffering." .