Exclusive: Iraqi Factions warn targeting Al-Sistani will spark a war ending in “Israel's demise”

Exclusive: Iraqi Factions warn targeting Al-Sistani will spark a war ending in “Israel's demise”
2024-10-09T10:55:54+00:00

Shafaq News/ The Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, a prominent Iraqi armed faction, responded on Wednesday to Israel's reported intention to target Iraq’s top religious authority, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, stating that this authority is "above all red lines."

The brigades' spokesman, Kazem Al-Fartousi, told Shafaq News Agency, "The Israeli threats and rhetoric appear random and stem from psychological tactics, including the Zionist regime's intention to target Al-Sistani,” affirming, “This is an attempt to exert pressure on the Iraqi people and to intimidate by exaggerating the potential response."

"The religious authority is not something that can be labeled as a red line; it is above all those lines and all calculations and designations, and it is the sacred entity that cannot be touched." He warned, “Any foolish actions taken by the Zionist entity against the religious authority would lead to a prolonged war that would only end with the demise of Israel."

Al-Fartousi further explained, " Iraq has been at war with Israel since 1948, and there is nothing to end this state of war—no international agreements, no ceasefire, and no UN resolution. Therefore, Israel will not stop targeting Iraq, and Israeli attacks are recurrent. Thus, we remain in a state of war and do not need to declare war against this occupying entity.”

On Tuesday, the Israeli right-wing Channel 14 published a photo of Al-Sistani, as part of a list of potential assassination targets.

Al-Sistani's photo appeared alongside regional leaders such as Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem, Hamas's political bureau chief Yahya Sinwar, Iran's Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, and Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In the context of the Israeli correspondent's discussion about Israel's potential response to the recent Iranian missile attack, a “target” label was placed on their heads without explaining the reasons for including Al-Sistani, which sparked angry reactions in Iraq.

These developments come amid a wave of assassinations by Israel, with the most prominent being the killing of Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs.

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