Muhammad Ahmed Miftah | |
---|---|
محمد أحمد مفتاح | |
Acting Prime Minister of Yemen (Supreme Political Council) | |
Assumed office 30 August 2025 | |
President | Mahdi al-Mashat |
Preceded by | Ahmed al-Rahawi |
Deputy Prime Minister of Yemen (Supreme Political Council) | |
In office 10 August 2024 –30 August 2025 | |
President | Mahdi al-Mashat |
Prime Minister | Ahmed al-Rahawi |
Personal details | |
Born | 1967 (age 57–58) |
Political party | Al-Haqq |
Muhammad Ahmed Miftah [b] [1] (born 1967) is a Yemeni politician who has served as prime minister of the Supreme Political Council since 30 August 2025. He became prime minister of the Supreme Political Council following the death of previous prime minister Ahmed al-Rahawi in an Israeli air attack on 28 August. Miftah previously served as deputy prime minister in the government. [2]
Miftah was born in 1967 in the al-Haymah district of Sanaa Governorate. [3] Miftah is a prominent cleric,scholar and jurist in the Zaydi branch of Shia Islam,which is subscribed to by the Houthis. [4]
During the Houthi insurgency in Saada Governorate,he publicly voiced condemnation of the government's actions in the conflict. [5] In September 2004,he was arrested as he was leading prayers in the al-Rawdah Grand Mosque in Sanaa. [6] He was charged alongside another Zaydi cleric on accusations of supporting the Houthis and plotting to overthrow the local government,and were using a front group called the Sanaa Youth Organization to achieve this. [7] Both of them contested the claims and maintained that they had only advocated for peaceful dissent. [5] Miftah was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment in May 2005 for "having contacts with the state of Iran with the aim of harming the diplomatic and political position of Yemen", [7] but was pardoned by President Ali Abdullah Saleh in May 2006. [8] As member of Al-Haqq,he was again arrested in 2008. [9]
As part of a government reshuffle,on 10 August 2024 he was named First Deputy Prime Minister of the Houthi-affiliated Government of Change and Construction. [10] On 30 August 2025,he was sworn in as Prime Minister,after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike.