Gulf Arab countries will take necessary measures to protect the region against "aggression" by Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi group if a peaceful solution cannot be found to that country's turmoil, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said on Monday.

Prince Saud, who also remarked that the kingdom opposed Iranian "interference" in Yemen, was speaking at a joint news conference in Riyadh with visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.

Hammond said Britain would discuss with Saudi Arabia and the United States how to reinforce the position of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, adding: "None of us wants to see military action."