Abdul Rahman Yahya al-Iryani (
1908-
1998) (
Arabic: عبد الرحمن الإرياني) was the
President of the
Yemen Arab Republic from
5 November 1967 to
13 June 1974.Al-Iryani actively opposed the kings of the
Mutawakkalite Kingdom of Yemen, helping to lead al-Ahrar ("the free") in pushing for a republic. In February 1948, he participated in the "Constitution Revolution" of the Free Yemeni Movement against the King (Imam) aiming at the establishment of constitutional monarcy. He was imprisoned for six years after the fall of the revolution which stood for only few weeks. The Yemen Arab Republic was created as the
Mutawakkalite King,
Muhammad al-Badr, was deposed in
1962. Al-Iryani served as the
Prime Minister of the new republic from
5 October 1963 to
10 February 1964. He also served as a minister of justice, and a member of the presidential council. He opposed the Egyption and Saudi interference in Yemen affairs and led with two of his coligues, Ahmed Noaman and Mohamad Al-Zubairi, a strong movement against the foreign involvement in the Yemeni civil war between republicans and royalists. He was held in Egypt with Noaman in 1966 while their partner Al-Zubairi was assassinated earlier. He was allowed to go back to Yemen in November 1967 where he became the second President of the Yemen Arab Republic on
5 November 1967. In 1970, he arrived at a national conciliation agreement with the supporters of the royal regim and established a formal relation with Saudi Arabia. In 1972, he reached an agreement with South Yemen for the unification of the two parts of the country which constituted the basic foundations for the unification of 1990. It was also during his regime that Yemen had parliamentary elections and permanent constitution for the first time. He served until a
coup d'état led by
Ibrahim al-Hamdi and the military succeeded in seizing power on
13 June 1974. After the coup, al-Iryani went into exile in
Syria where he died in 1998.
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