The United Nations Security Council on Sunday demanded Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen withdraw from government institutions, called for an end to foreign interference and threatened "further steps" if the violence does not stop, Reuters reported.
The United Nations has warned that Yemen is collapsing. Shi'ite Muslim Houthi fighters have sidelined the central government after seizing the capital Sanaa in September and expanding across Yemen, which borders oil giant Saudi Arabia.
Al Qaeda and other Sunni Muslim militants have since stepped up attacks.
Yemen is home to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the global network's most active arms, which has carried out attacks abroad.
The 15-nation Security Council unanimously adopted a British- and Jordanian-drafted resolution on the crisis on Sunday.
The Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-nation bloc comprising energy-rich Gulf states, had urged the Security Council to adopt a resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows decisions to be enforced with economic sanctions or force. The approved U.N. resolution is not under Chapter 7.
The council declared its readiness to take "further steps" if the resolution is not implemented by parties in Yemen. In November, the council imposed sanctions on Yemen's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and two Houthi leaders.
It "deplores actions taken by the Houthis to dissolve parliament and take over Yemen's government institutions, including acts of violence."