UNITED NATIONS — After weeks of closed-door negotiations between diplomats from Persian Gulf states and Russia, the Security Council on Tuesday imposed an arms embargo on the Houthi fighters battling for control of Yemen and left it to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to negotiate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemenis who have endured nearly three weeks of Saudi-led airstrikes.

The resolution, which is legally binding, prohibits the sale of weapons to three Houthi leaders, as well as former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his son and former military commander, Ahmed Ali Saleh. The former president and two Houthi military commanders, Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim and Abd al-Khaliq al-Huthi, were already subject to a travel ban and asset freeze.