The painstaking progress being achieved in Yemen’s bitter civil war risks being jeopardised by rising tensions between the US and Iran, the UK’s foreign secretary has warned.

Jeremy Hunt stressed that he would raise his concerns over the issue with Donald Trump during the president’s state visit in June. Mr Hunt has already discussed the issue with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

Yemen, shattered by violence over four years, is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Some 12 million people, nearly 40 per cent of the population, are on the brink of starvation. Almost 8,000 people have been killed and 11,500 injured since the conflict began in 2015, according to the United Nations.

However, following talks in Stockholm at the end of December, Houthi rebels pulled out of three key Red Sea ports – Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Isa – in partial implementation of a ceasefire. Attempts are under way for aid to be distributed in the worst-hit areas.

Speaking on National Yemen Day in the House of Commons, Mr Hunt acknowledged that the country was seeing one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent times and that there was a long way to go before the conflict ended.

Food aid for Yemenis stolen Show all 21 1 /21 Food aid for Yemenis stolen Food aid for Yemenis stolen People walk in a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen People stand near their rooms inside a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A baby sleeps inside a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A woman sits with her baby inside a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen Sisters play in their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen The entrance of the hangar of the United Nations in Aden, Yemen, in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A man sells aid supplies at a market in Aden, Yemen, in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen The entrance to the port where aid is received, in Aden, Yemen, is shown in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen This 24 July 2018 photo shows a gas station on a road in Shabwah, Yemen. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A worn-out list of registered names for aid by Relief International, part of the World Food Program, is posted in Aden, Yemen in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A truck carries aid on a road in Aden, Yemen, in this 23 July 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A man fixes his scarf at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen Children play in a room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen Children look out of their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A woman holds her baby as she leaves her room in a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A family poses for a photograph in their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A family sits in their room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A bucket filled with bread at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, is shown in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A family poses for a photograph in a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A child stands in a room at a shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) Food aid for Yemenis stolen A shelter for displaced persons in Ibb, Yemen, is shown in this 3 Aug 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

But Mr Hunt added: “There is now a profound commitment on both sides to end the conflict and the frustrations over Hodeidah may be coming to an end. The United Kingdom has a particular responsibility as a ‘penholder’ [pushing forward motions] at the UN and we recognise that.

“But my concern is to ensure that Yemen does not get caught up in the tensions between the US and Iran. I will raise this with President Trump when he comes; I have discussed this with Secretary Pompeo. We all need to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained and built upon, it is all our jobs to do this.”

Mr Hunt was speaking at the all-party event before a Commons debate on Yemen, during which the government was expected to come under severe criticism for continuing to sell arms to the Saudi-led Sunni bloc carrying out the military campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthis.

In a message to the Yemen day gathering, Jeremy Corbyn reiterated that the Labour Party’s policy was an “immediate end to arms sales to Saudi Arabia” and a United Nations-led “investigation into allegations of war crimes against both sides”.

Meanwhile, the problem of separating the Yemen conflict from wider regional tensions involving Iran was brought into focus by the Yemeni information minister.

Speaking at the Commons event, Moammar al-Eryani said: “What the Houthis are doing in Yemen, they are doing with the support of Iran. The Houthis have been using hospitals and schools as military places, they have expelled thousands of civilians and laid mines, they have laid mines and destroyed aid, food and medicine. The Houthis’ supporters know what they are doing.”

The Saudi-led coalition has also been accused of committing war crimes in Yemen, which it denies.

“The Houthis have been using Yemen to fire missiles into neighbouring countries,” al-Eryani added. “They have been responsible for the firing on the Aramco tanker, which raised oil prices and created economic instability in the area.”

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The Saudi government has blamed Iran, its Shia regional rival, for instigating missile strikes by Houthis from Yemen.

US officials have claimed that Tehran was behind the attacks on oil tankers and have used that as one of the key reasons behind deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the Gulf region.