After the losses endured, will Iran back Houthis with Iraqi militias?

Ali Ragab

With the continuous losses endured by the Houthi militias in Yemen, and their failure to recruit Yemeni fighters, Iran has been seeking to provide the Houthis with the necessary human support, through deploying its military arms, including its affiliated armed militias in Iraq.

The Imam Ali Battalions, an Iranian proxy group operating under the flag of the Iranian Militias in Iraq and Syria (IMIS), has announced finishing the training of a group of fighters who expressed willingness to fight alongside the Houthis in Yemen.

A footage posted on social media showed a group of Shiite fighters expressing their readiness to join the Houthis in Yemen. In the footage, the one responsible for training the fighters said they will head to fight in Yemen.

A leader in the IMIS, Abu Azrael, said during his meeting with a Houthi delegation in Baghdad, “The Imam Ali Battalions and the Houthis are coming to you.”

Abu Ala al-Waeli, the leader of the Sayed al-Shuhada Brigades issued an official statement proclaiming his group’s loyalty to the religious authorities in Iran. He also expressed desire to volunteer as a soldier under the command of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

While commander of the Abu Fadl al-Abbas Brigade, Aws Al-Khafagy, expressed willingness to take part in the fight in Yemen against the United States.

For his part, Saudi author Mutlaq al-Mutairi warned in press remarks against an Iranian scheme to transfer Iraqi Shiite fighters to Sanaa to fight alongside the Houthis in Yemen.

A leader in the Southern Transitional Council, Nizar Haitham, said no Iraqis were arrested fighting for the militias, like what happened with Hezbollah experts who were arrested in Yemen during battles with the resistance.

Haitham added in an interview with The Reference that Shiite militias keep threatening to fight alongside the Houthis to raise their morals after the following defeats in many areas, including the Yemeni West Cost and Saada Governorate.

He also pointed out that Iraqi fighters could be smuggled to Yemen through land or sea, or even as humanitarian activists, and with the losses that the Houthis endured, they currently seek military experts to train their militias, which is what Iran has been seeking to provide.

As a Houthi delegation visited Baghdad in Aug. 2017, many Shiite militias in Iraq expressed readiness to fight alongside the Houthis, as well as providing them with the necessary logistic, financial and military support.