Iran Reshuffles Its Proxies in Yemen and Iraq amid U.S. Strikes

24th March 2025

2 minutes read

Iran Reshuffles Its Proxies in Yemen and Iraq amid U.S. Strikes

Well-informed sources have confirmed that Tehran is reorganizing its proxies in Yemen and Iraq in response to recent U.S. actions, including airstrikes targeting the Houthis, its armed wing in Yemen.

According to the local news site Al-Muntasaf, these sources indicate that Iran is waging a covert war, using the territories of both countries as battlefields and the Iraqi and Yemeni populations as human shields while keeping its own territory and people safe. They also confirm that Iran has established a coordination cell comprising intelligence services, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and religious authorities to oversee joint operations between the Houthis in Yemen and the Popular Mobilization Forces (Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi) in Iraq.

The sources further state that the recent visit of former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to Sana’a, where he met with Houthi leaders, was orchestrated by Iran. Abdul Mahdi, known for his close ties to Tehran, reportedly facilitated an agreement to vacate a key Houthi headquarters in Baghdad, following Iranian directives and Iraqi recommendations.

However, Houthi diplomatic representation in Iraq remains in place, which many Iraqis opposed to Iranian influence see as a persistent threat to their country’s sovereignty.

Intelligence reports from 2023 revealed that a pro-Iranian Shia faction in Iraq facilitated the establishment of this Houthi office in Baghdad. This headquarters coordinates various activities, including the transfer of fighters, weapons, and narcotics from Iran through Baghdad to Houthi-controlled areas.

The sources add that the Houthis may be forced to close two additional offices due to growing pressure from Iraq’s Coordination Framework, which fears they could become targets of U.S. airstrikes as part of Washington’s escalating campaign against Iranian proxies in the region.

A recent report by the United Nations Security Council Panel of Experts on Yemen highlighted close coordination between Iraqi factions and the Houthis in areas such as arms smuggling, fighter training, and supplying weapons used in terrorist attacks against maritime vessels in the region.

The report details the Houthis’ ties with Iran’s so-called “resistance axis,” including operations with armed groups in Iraq and Lebanon, as well as their military cooperation.

It also notes that Iraqi armed groups are providing the Houthis with financial support, weapons, and training. Iraqi fighters have been sent to Yemen to bolster the Houthis, while significant funds have been raised in Iraq through Hezbollah’s Iraqi branch.

According to the report, Iraqi militias have been dispatching experts and fighters to Yemen since 2015 to oversee Houthi training, transfer military technology, and actively participate in combat operations. It specifies that Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces have trained approximately 80 Houthi fighters at a training center in Behbahan, located in the Jurf Al-Sakhar region of Baghdad. Among these fighters were commanders from the Houthis’ Al-Nasr Brigades, who were later deployed in Yemen’s coastal provinces, such as Hodeidah and Hajjah.