Former Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi visited Sanaa in Yemen to meet with the Iranian-backed Houthis days after the US launched airstrikes on the Houthis. His trip also came as the Houthis began new ballistic missile attacks on Israel on March 18 and 20.
Abdul-Mahdi’s visit takes place in the context of Iran’s historic support for the Houthis and the Islamic Republic’s key role in backing Iraqi militias and political parties during Abdul-Mahdi’s premiership in 2018–2019. Iran has sought to coordinate its various proxies in the region, including the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and militias in Iraq. Nevertheless, high-profile meetings between the Houthis and Iraqi officials are rare.
Mehr News, a semi-official news outlet in Iran, reported on Abdul-Mahdi’s trip. It said he arrived on March 20 “amid the recently escalated tensions as a result of the United States aggression in the region.” The report claimed Abdul-Mahdi was in Yemen “to be part of Iraq’s mediation to de-escalate tensions in the region.” It also said he was there to “convey US proposals to the Yemenis regarding the situation in the Red Sea.”
“The source added that Abdul-Mahdi went to Yemen with a message from the US and presented new proposals to the Yemenis to limit the escalation of tensions in the region after the announcement of the resumption of the Yemeni army’s operations in the Red Sea,” the Mehr report noted.
Since Abdul-Mahdi left office, he has not been involved in high-profile events. He was Iraq’s prime minister from October 2018 to November 2019 and vice-president from 2005 to 2011. A Shiite, Abdul-Mahdi was a left-leaning activist as a young man but later gravitated toward the United Iraqi Alliance, which included numerous Shiite groups and Iraqi leaders such as former Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. When Abdul-Mahdi rose to power in 2018, it was, according to Arabic reports at the time, through support from a swath of Iraqi parties and power-brokers, including former Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, Hadi al Amiri, an Iraqi politician and head of the Badr Organization, and Muqtada al Sadr, the firebrand cleric who heads the Sadrist Movement. Abdul-Mahdi was portrayed as a well-off economist when he entered office.
In contrast to the Iranian media report, Yemen’s Shabab website, which is critical of the Houthis, noted that “observers believe Abdul Mahdi’s visit comes within the framework of bilateral cooperation within the so-called ‘unity of arenas’ affiliated with the Iranian axis in the region.”
The report claimed Abdul Mahdi was hosted by “Abdulrahman Al-Ahnumi, director of the Houthi-affiliated General Corporation for Radio and Television” who reportedly posted a video stating, “Welcome, dear guest. You have illuminated Sana’a.” Ahnumi has hosted pro-Palestinian delegations in Sanaa in the past. The Shabab report said the Iraqi had arrived to take part in a three-day conference titled “Palestine: The Central Issue of the Nation.” It also noted that “Abdul-Mahdi is a Shiite politician known for his loyalty to Iran.”
Al Sumaria, a mainstream Iraqi channel, said that Abdul-Mahdi’s visit to Yemen “reinforces the possibility of unannounced negotiations between the parties involved in the crisis and the international tensions that are occurring.” It also noted that Reuters had reported that Iran had delivered a “verbal message” to the Houthis about the situation in the Red Sea. Iran has sought to distance itself from the Houthis since the US strikes began and President Donald Trump said the US would hold Iran responsible for Houthi actions.
As leader of Iraq, Abdul-Mahdi largely failed to govern the divided country. He came to power after Abadi’s government had defeated the Islamic State and confronted the Kurdistan region’s independence referendum in 2017. Abdul-Mahdi also became prime minister as the Iran-backed militias who comprise the Popular Mobilization Units were playing an increasingly aggressive role in Iraq, having been elevated to official paramilitaries of the state. Abdul-Mahdi resigned in November 2019 after massive protests in which hundreds of protesters were killed, many of them at the hands of Iranian-backed militias.
Yemen’s Saba News, a former state news agency that now backs the Houthis, reported that Houthi Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Jamal Amer met with the former Iraqi leader during the Palestine conference in Sanaa. Amer recently stated, “At the end of the day, we are at war with America.” Amer also said the Palestine conference illustrates the importance of the Palestinians to Yemen while praising the Houthis’ decision to initiate attacks on Israel in November 2023 and expand their campaign against ships in the Red Sea. According to this report, the former Iraqi leader also praised the Houthis for their stance on Gaza.
