Saudi Arabia said Thursday it will temporarily halt all oil shipments through Bab-El-Mandeb Strait until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab Al-Mandeb is safe. The Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, Khalid Al-Falih said Thursday that according to the statement by official spokesman of the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, two Saudi Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), operated by the Saudi shipping company, Bahri, transiting through Bab-El-Mandeb Strait, were attacked in the Red Sea by the terrorist Houthi militia on Thursday morning, Saudi time. “This terrorist act deters the freedom of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and Bab-El-Mandeb Strait,” the minister said. The two million barrels capacity for each tanker was full of crude oil cargo at the time and was headed for export. According to Al-Falih, one of the VLCCs sustained minimal damage. However, fortunately, there were no injuries or oil spill that would have resulted in catastrophic environmental damage. Efforts are currently underway to move the damaged ship to the nearest Saudi port. Analysts interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said the Houthi-Iranian attack on the two Saudi crude carriers represent a violation of the International Law and it pushes Iran into a confrontation with the global economic interests at the Red Sea. “The freedom of navigation at water straits and open seas is a right guaranteed for all states,” retired general from the Navy, Amro Al-Ameri said. He explained that according to Article 32 of the international maritime law, all ships and planes have the right of "transit passage" to straits used for international navigation and cannot be obstructed. Yemeni Foreign Minister, Khaled Al Yemany told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that in coordination with the Kuwaiti delegation, currently the only Arab representative at the Security Council, the Yemeni delegation at the UN seeks to present a complaint to the Council about the Houthi attacks against commercial ships, which is threatening the international navigation and its safety. “We will ask the Council to quickly act to stop those violations against the international maritime law,” he said. Separately, several Arab states and regional organizations such as the Arab League and the Arab Parliament condemned the targeting of oil tankers in the Red Sea by Iranian Houthi militias. "The targeting of oil tankers by Iranian Houthi militias in the Red Sea is a terrorist act and a serious threat to international peace and security which requires an immediate and decisive action by the international community to secure oil lines to the world and hold accountable Al-Houthi militias and the countries and groups supporting them," the Arab Parliament said in a statement Thursday.