Iran-aligned Houthis have seized Yemen's port city of Mocha and advanced towards strategic islands overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, as Iranian strikes have damaged US fighter aircraft at a base in Jordan.The developments marked an escalation on two fronts of the Iran war on Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he expected the conflict to end after the US midterm elections.Yemeni government military sources said the Houthis had gained further leverage over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's most important shipping routes, and had reached the Hanish Islands.If the Houthis gain control of the waterway, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz, it could give their backer Iran leverage over a second major transit corridor and further disrupt global energy supplies.It could also complicate Mr Trump's efforts to find an exit from a war that has hurt his Republican Party's electoral prospects ahead of the November midterms.Members of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces react during what they say to be clashes with Iran-aligned Houthis in Al-Hazm, Yemen. (Reuters: Media Centre of the Yemeni Armed Forces)Yemen's Houthi-run humanitarian operations coordination centre said Red Sea navigation was safe for all shipping companies except Saudi vessels.Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has relied heavily on the Red Sea route since the Iran conflict effectively closed Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of global oil supplies previously flowed.Yemeni government forces and their allies are relocating south along the Red Sea coast to Dhubab on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, across from Perim Island, government military sources said. Control of Dhubab and the island is key to gaining hold of the strait, they said.UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg told the Security Council on Thursday that the international community must act to address "a new and more dangerous phase" in the Yemen war.The Houthis' capture of Mocha gave them "a direct presence on the approaches to one of the world's most vital straits", raising serious concerns about freedom of navigation, he said.Yemeni government forces and their allies are relocating south along the Red Sea coast. (Reuters)Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz, the US representative at the meeting, accused the Houthis of acting as "agents and tools of Iran"."This escalation is unacceptable, and those who enable it bear responsibility for its consequences," she said.Yemeni government, Iranian and regional sources told Reuters the Houthi advance down the coast this week came with direct guidance from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said, without elaborating, that the group's operations were defensive and would stop once attacks on Yemen stopped.Brent crude rose as much as 4 per cent on Thursday to above $US105 a barrel as traders weighed the threat to another major shipping route. Yemen's Houthi rebels march during a mobilisation campaign in Sanaa, Yemen. (AP Photo)The US national average diesel price also surpassed $US6 a gallon for the first time, according to price tracker GasBuddy.After joining the war with an attack on Israel in March, the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July and escalated attacks this month.Saudi civil defence authorities issued emergency alerts in the south-western city of Khamis Mushait for the fourth time in 24 hours as the Houthis attacked.Pakistan has delivered a Saudi warning to Iran to rein in the Houthis in an effort to prevent the crisis from spiralling, Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources said.A senior Iranian official said Tehran's response was: "Iran does not control the Houthis".The fighting comes during the biggest declared wave of US-Iran tit-for-tat attacks on Gulf shipping since the war began in late February.Iran strikes damage US aircraft in JordanIranian strikes on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan damaged several US military aircraft this week, a US official told Reuters.One A-10 Thunderbolt II, known as the Warthog, lost a wing in Tuesday's attack, while about eight F-15 fighter jets sustained light damage and were returned to service, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.The losses add to mounting damage to US military assets since the war began. A May report from the Congressional Research Service said 42 US military aircraft had already been lost or damaged in the conflict, including more than two dozen drones.Eighteen US service members have been killed and more than 800 injured since the war began in February.The attack on the Jordan base came after US forces said they destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers. Washington said the strikes were retaliation for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps twice targeting a US Navy warship with ballistic missiles over the previous two days.US forces fired about 30 Patriot interceptors to counter the Iranian missiles, the US official said, amid growing concern about US stocks of air defence missiles.While inventory numbers are classified, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated about 65 per cent of US Patriot interceptors were expended between February and July, leaving fewer than 850 on hand compared with 2,330 before the war.Iran has also struck the US Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters at Naval Support Activity Bahrain.Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao described the extent of the damage in an interview with the Epoch Times, saying Iran had "blew the hell out of Bahrain".Trump sees war ending after midtermsThe war and higher fuel prices have helped drive Mr Trump's popularity to record lows, according to polls. He accused Iran of trying to influence the midterm elections, which will determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress.Donald Trump at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas. (Reuters: Callaghan O'Hare)"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," Mr Trump told reporters on Wednesday.The US president has previously set other deadlines for the war to end.In recent weeks, Washington had cited increasing success guiding tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.But renewed fighting this month appears to have set back efforts to reopen the waterway. Just seven vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, about half the 10-day average, preliminary ship-tracking data showed.Iranian state media said on Thursday the Revolutionary Guards Navy had struck a US unmanned vessel at the entrance to Hormuz.ABC/Reuters