Militants backed by Iran have taken over a crucial port in the Red Sea, raising fears of further threats to global shipping and oil supplies.

A second theatre of war between Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels in Yemen escalated in the past few days.

Houthis said they had taken over Yemen’s port city of Mocha, about 80km from Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is vital to controlling shipping through the Red Sea.

The route between Asia and Europe is a chokepoint similar to the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a major flashpoint in the Iran war.

The port’s capture potentially expands Iran’s influence over another Middle Eastern waterway, with about 12 per cent of the world’s oil and other goods shipped through Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The strait has become even more important for global energy supplies since shipping through the nearby Strait of Hormuz was disrupted by Iran after it was attacked by the United States and Israel in February.

The news came amid reports that US President Donald Trump has been privately warned that the Iran war could last for the remainder of his presidency.

The Wall Street Journal reported that top White House advisers, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, told Trump the conflict could extend until January 2029.

But Trump has publicly claimed ‌the war with Iran could end after the November US midterm elections.

The Iran war and subsequent increase ‌in fuel prices ‌have helped drive Trump’s popularity to ⁠record lows.

The president said Tehran was trying to influence the November US midterm elections, which will determine whether ​his Republican Party retains control of Congress.

“I think war is going to end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer. They’re desperate to try and affect the election,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday (local time).

Trump has previously set deadlines for the war to end.

In recent weeks Washington had cited increasing success guiding tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of oil supplies before the war.

But ​a ​resumption of fighting this month appears to have set back any such ​gradual reopening. Just seven vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, half the 10-day average, preliminary ‌ship-tracking data showed on Thursday.

The Houthi rebels’ takeover of Mocha was confirmed to the Associated Press by Ahmed Baash, a commander with the National Resistance Forces allied with Yemen’s government, and Hazam al-Assad, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau.

Mocha represents the Houthis biggest territorial gain since a truce signed in 2022 to end a civil war in Yemen that lasted more than a decade.

Residents of Mocha have told AP that Houthi forces can be seen all around the city and that markets have shuttered.

-with AAP