Pressure mounts on rebels

Saudi Arabia and Egypt are considering holding "large-scale" military exercises after launching air strikes on Yemeni rebels who have been slapped with a UN arms embargo and sanctions.

In a possible sign the Saudi-led air campaign against the Shia rebels may expand into a ground operation, Cairo said it and Riyadh were mulling the drills in Saudi Arabia with other Gulf countries participating.

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"It was decided to form a joint military committee to look into a large-scale strategic manoeuvre on Saudi territory," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's office said late Tuesday after he met the Saudi defence minister.

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab countries launched the air strikes on March 26, after the Iran-backed rebels seized the capital Sanaa last year and advanced on the main southern city of Aden, where President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi had taken refuge.

Saudi Arabia has accused Tehran -- the main Shia power -- of arming the rebels and the conflict has heightened tensions in the Middle East.

World powers united against the rebels on Tuesday, with the UN Security Council voting to impose an arms embargo on them and hitting their leaders with sanctions.

The UN resolution -- the first formal action taken by the Security Council since the start of the Saudi-led raids -- demands the Huthis withdraw from Sanaa and all other areas they have seized.

It slaps an arms embargo on Huthi leaders and their allies and puts chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi and ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh's eldest son, Ahmed, on a sanctions list, imposing a global travel ban and an assets freeze on the two men.