The Yemeni government has cut its relations with Iran which has been accused of backing the Houthi militants.
State media quoted a presidency source as saying on Saturday the decision to expel the Iranian ambassador in Sanaa and withdraw the Yemeni diplomats in Tehran comes in response to continuos Iranian meddling in Yemen's affairs.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly days ago, President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi accused Iran of seeking to destabilize and destroy Yemen primarily through backing the Houthi militants.
The militants ousted the UN-backed government in late 2014. In early 2015, they tightened grip on power after placing the government under house arrest.
The ouster of the government triggered a civil war and a Saudi-led military intervention, both have left the country to face a humanitarian catastrophe.
On Friday, UNICEF said around 500 children were killed and 700 others injured in the several-months conflict in the country. And around 1.7 million children are suffering from malnutrition, it said.
Moreover, the decision to cut the ties with the Islamic republic of Iran came days after the Yemeni forces and the Saudi-led coalition seized a boat carrying weapons for the Houthis.
In the meanwhile, the battles between the Yemeni forces backed by the coalition and the Houthi militants continued on Saturday in the cities of Taiz and Marib.
In Taiz, well-informed sources said military reinforcements from the national forces in Aden are arriving to back the forces and the popular resistance to fight the Houthis.
The battles are currently escalating in the port town of Makha which the government and the coalition are seeking to retake after the Bab Al-Mandab strait and the island of Mion on the Red Sea, the sources said.
In Marib, military sources said the battles continued with the Yemeni and Arab forces advancing on all warfronts retaking positions and forcing the Houthis to retreat.