Iraq to limit Houthi activity in country following ‘US pressure’

The Iraqi government has made commitments to prevent any non-civilian activities within the country by the Houthis on Tuesday, according to sources speaking to The New Arab’s Arabic sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The same sources confirmed that the government is working to restrict the Houthis’ movements within Iraq and limit their presence to media and cultural activities.

Since 2018, the Houthi group has operated an office in the upscale Jadriya neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, known as “The Representation Office”. This office is effectively overseen by Abu Idris Al-Sharafi, along with other group leaders residing in Iraq, most notably Abu Ali Al-Ezzi and Mohammed Abdul Azim Al-Houthi.

In recent months, leaders of the Houthi group have conducted several visits to Iraqi political officials, as well as to leaders of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and other pro-Iran armed factions in Baghdad and various provinces.

The group revealed in early August that one of its commanders, Hussein Abdullah Mastour, from the city of Maran in Saada, was killed in a US airstrike targeting a location in Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad, that belonged to the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah group, which is heavily linked to Iran. 

The move by the Iraqi government comes as the Trump administration has begun a fresh wave of attacks on the Houthis, who have restarted their blockade of Israel in the Red Sea as it continues to besiege and bombard Gaza.

Iraq, which has hosted Houthi forces as part of Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’ grouping, is now keen to distance itself from the group.

A political source in Baghdad told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “in light of current regional challenges and the looming threat of U.S. escalation against Iran, the Iraqi government now feels that the presence of the [Houthi] group in Baghdad is a political burden”.

He added, “Many of their activities — particularly political and media-related ones — have been halted, but the movement’s representatives remain in Iraq”.

Abdulrahman Al-Jazaeri, a member of the State of Law coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “international pressure was exerted on Iraq with the aim of closing the Houthis’ office and ending their activities inside the country”.

“This prompted the government to provide assurances to those regional and international parties that no non-civilian Houthi activities would be allowed from Iraqi territory. All such activities are being monitored and supervised, and they are strictly limited to civilian, media, and cultural work only,” he added. 

This is not the first time the Houthis activities in Iraq have come under scrutiny. During Syria’s almost 14-year-long civil war, the Yemeni militant group fought for Assad, with many speculating that Iran brought fighters from the group through Iraq into the country.

The US is thought to fear that the Houthis could strike US bases from within Iraq in retaliation for Washington’s brutal strikes on the group, which killed at least 61 people, including women and children.