Weak international response emboldens Houthis to copy Iranian blockade, Yemen says

Zouba said Yemen's government, which enjoys strong Saudi backing, was prepared for an escalation and that firing was taking place along the frontline, spanning the country's northwest from the Red Sea up to the Saudi border, but neither side had yet mounted an offensive.

"We think that this conflict now needs to come to an end, either via peaceful means, or the other way," she said.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari in Riyadh; Writing by Yasmine Ghania and Timour Azhari; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Stephen Coates)