Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, issued a stark warning on Saturday regarding the potential for catastrophic consequences in the region following the assassination of two prominent militant leaders backed by Iran.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani
Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, issued a stark warning on Saturday regarding the potential for catastrophic consequences in the region following the assassination of two prominent militant leaders backed by Iran.
The recent high-profile killings of two leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah have significantly increased the risk of "major confrontations" that could have "catastrophic consequences" for the region, Ayatollah Sistani cautioned.
The two figures in question are Fouad Chokor, a senior Hezbollah commander who was killed on July 30 in an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement, who was killed in another strike attributed to Israel in Tehran.
The revered religious leader also called for an end to the "genocidal war" in Gaza, where an Israeli airstrike on Saturday claimed the lives of over 100 people in a school sheltering displaced Palestinians.
"Once again, the Israeli occupation army has committed a massive massacre... adding to the series of crimes it is perpetrating in Gaza," Sistani said in a rare statement since the war began in October 2023.
The Grand Ayatollah's warnings underscore the growing tensions and the potential for widespread violence as the conflict in the Middle East escalates.
A strategic partnership treaty that Russia and Iran are poised to sign will govern the two countries' relations for the next two decades, the TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Iran's ambassador to Moscow.
Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his hands were "extended to everyone", in a gesture to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group that accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him for the post.
Negotiators were meeting in Qatar on Tuesday hoping to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza, after U.S. President Joe Biden indicated a ceasefire and hostage release deal was imminent.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.