As a young man, Hadi al-Ameri was part of the (armed) struggle against the Saddam Hussein regime.

There he participated in the founding of the Badr Organization|Badr Brigade, an armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite political party which fought the Iraqi regime during the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988.

[1] However, he has proclaimed his affection for Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of Quds Force, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was believed to have been playing an instrumental part in supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the conflict.

He has been described as "perhaps the most powerful and pro-Iranian" leader in the Popular Mobilization Forces and often met Brett H. McGurk, President Donald J. Trump's US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.

[6] In the aftermath of the 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike which resulted in the deaths of Qasem Soleimani and Muhandis, Amiri was seen as a candidate to replace Muhandis as a leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces,[7] an Iraqi coalition of militias which fought against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist group.