Iraq court records confessions in Al-Yamani marriage cases

Shafaq News- Baghdad

A court in Baghdad has ratified the confessions of two defendants accused of belonging to the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), locally known as the Al-Yamani Movement, Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said on Sunday.

The defendants admitted knowing that a girl had been hidden to facilitate her marriage outside Iraq and her entry into the group, and using a Telegram channel to arrange marriages among members and encourage young people to emigrate, according to the council.

Authorities are working to execute arrest warrants against other suspects.

The movement is led by Ahmed al-Hasan al-Yamani, a Shiite religious figure who claims to be the messianic “Al-Yamani.” In Twelver Shiite Islam, the dominant branch of Islam in Iraq, Al-Yamani is expected to emerge before the reappearance of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam.

In April 2025, an Iraqi security source told Shafaq News that authorities had detained a "high-value target" believed to be the movement's chief strategist in Najaf province. Iraqi security agencies have repeatedly described such groups as "deviant" movements that threaten social stability, while Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has rejected claims by individuals asserting they represent or are the awaited Mahdi, warning that such assertions mislead the public and exploit periods of instability.