Abdi became the director of the Ayandeh public opinion firm and participated in a poll asking Iranians if they supported resuming government dialogue with the United States. On 22 September 2002 the official news agency IRNA published an Ayandeh poll indicating that 74.4% of Iranians favoured a resumption of ties with the United States. Abdi was arrested at his home on 4 November 2002, accused of "having received money from either the US polling firm Gallup or a foreign embassy". Abdi spent several years in prison as a result. In the 2009 presidential election he was one of the key advisors to Mehdi Karoubi.