Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran’s leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos

 

1m ago

09.50 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jun/19/israel-iran-conflict-live-hospital-in-southern-israel-hit-in-iran-missile-strike-say-israeli-officials?page=with:block-6853cda98f0806bcd720d5b4#block-6853cda98f0806bcd720d5b4

 

Iraq’s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran’s leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

 

Sistani said in a statement on Thursday that any targeting of Iran’s “supreme religious and political leadership” would have “dire consequences on the region”.

 

He warned that it could spark “widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of its [the region’s] people and severely harm everyone’s interests”.

 

Sistani urged the international community to “make every effort to end this unjust war and find a peaceful solution” to Iran’s nuclear programme.

 

Sistani, an Iranian, is the highest religious authority for millions of Shia Muslims in Iraq and around the world, with the power to mobilise a huge portion of that base in Iraq.

 

With warnings of all-out regional war intensifying following Israel’s surprise assault on Iran last week, fears are growing over an intervention by Iran-backed Iraqi factions, mostly against American interests in the region.