PARIS — Yemen's Houthi rebel chief says he is ready to hand over control of the key port of Hodeidah to the United Nations if the Saudi-led coalition backing pro-government troops halts its offensive, a French newspaper reported.

"We told the UN envoy, Martin Griffiths, that we are not rejecting the role of supervision and logistics that the UN wants to hold in the port, but on the condition that the aggression against Hodeidah stops," Abdel Malek Al-Houthi said in an interview with Le Figaro published online late Tuesday.

War-ravaged Yemen imports 90 percent of its food, 70 percent of which pass through Hodeidah's docks and the fighting has raised UN fears of a humanitarian catastrophe in a country already teetering on the brink of famine.

The Red Sea port has been controlled by the rebels since 2014, when they drove the government out of the capital Sanaa and much of the country.

Earlier this year, the Saudi-led coalition imposed a near-total blockade on the port as it was being used as a conduit for arms smuggling to the rebels by its regional arch rival Iran.

Then last month Yemen's government and its allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive on the port, the capture of which would be the coalition's biggest victory of the war so far.

UN envoy Griffiths has reportedly been pushing for a deal to end the violence in which the rebels cede control of the port to a UN-supervised committee.

Such an arrangement would mean the rebels would keep control of the city, a situation the UAE has rejected, demanding the unconditional withdrawal of the Houthis.

In the Le Figaro interview, the rebel leader also accused France of "contributing to Arab-led aggression" in Yemen by selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

"Many Western countries consider wars in the light of their economic interests, to the detriment of human rights," he said.

Meanwhile, the legitimate Yemeni army achieved many victories on several fronts like Taiz, Hajjah and Saada, while military preparations are underway for a field and aerial landing to liberate the whole city of Hodeidah very soon.

Missile fired toward Najran intercepted

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday intercepted a missile fired from rebel-held territory in neighboring Yemen, state media said.

The ballistic missile was fired from the northern Yemeni province of Saada toward the southern Saudi city of Najran, but no casualties were reported, said a coalition statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Wednesday's attack brings the tally to 162 rebel missiles launched since 2015, according to the coalition, which that year joined the fight against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. — Agencies