Iraq’s Sistani Calls for Fresh Faces to Run for Premiership

Iraq’s supreme religious authority Ali al-Sistani calls for fresh faces to run for prime minister. (AFP)
Iraq’s supreme religious authority Ali al-Sistani calls for fresh faces to run for prime minister. (AFP)
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Iraq’s Sistani Calls for Fresh Faces to Run for Premiership

Iraq’s supreme religious authority Ali al-Sistani calls for fresh faces to run for prime minister. (AFP)
Iraq’s supreme religious authority Ali al-Sistani calls for fresh faces to run for prime minister. (AFP)

As the deadline looms for the Iraqi parliamentary blocs to submit their candidate for the position of prime minister, supreme Shiite authority in al-Najaf, Ali al-Sistani, implied that he supports the nomination of fresh faces for the post.

Media affiliated to Sistani denied lawmaker claims that he had named a number of candidates for the position. The nomination is within the jurisdiction of the largest parliamentary bloc.

They added that he had not vetoed any potential candidate, but he will oppose a candidate who is from the political class that has run the country during the past few years because the people have lost their faith in them.

On Monday, MP Sabah al-Saaedi, of the Sairoun alliance of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, revealed that he had received information that Sistani had vetoed the nomination of five candidates. They are former PM Nouri al-Maliki, current PM Haidar al-Abadi, Hadi al-Ameri, Faleh al-Fayyad and Tareq Najm.

Commenting on the Sistani’s stance, Shiite cleric Farhan al-Saaedi told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The supreme religious authority has long left it up to the people to decide their fate.”

“Abadi’s term witnessed successes on the ground, which is important for the people. The people also, however, demand basic services, such as water and electricity. They will grow frustrated if their demands are not met, especially since there are no radical solutions for the crises,” he continued.

This is what the supreme religious authority wants to explain to the people: their choices determine their fate, he added.

Badr organization member Karim al-Nouri told Asharq Al-Awsat that based on Sistani’s criteria, the majority of politicians are not qualified for the position of prime minister.

Sistani had stipulated during one of his recent sermons that the candidate should be “firm, brave and strong,” he added.

“Based on these qualifications, then we believe that Hadi al-Ameri still has the greatest chance of becoming premier given his parliamentary work and his fight against ISIS for three years,” he added.

He also cited his success when he served as minister of transportation.



Syria Says Deadly Israeli Strikes a 'Blatant Violation'

This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
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Syria Says Deadly Israeli Strikes a 'Blatant Violation'

This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Syria on Thursday condemned deadly Israeli strikes across the country as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty, after Israel said it struck "military capabilities".

Syrian state media said the strikes hit close to a defense research center in Damascus, among other sites, while a war monitor reported four dead in the latest Israeli attack on Syria since the opposition factions ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

"In a blatant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty, Israeli forces launched airstrikes on five locations across the country," the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

"This unjustified escalation is a deliberate attempt to destabilize Syria and exacerbate the suffering of its people."

It said the strikes resulted in the "near-total destruction" of a military airport in central Syrian province Hama, injuring dozens of civilians and soldiers.

Syria's SANA news agency reported a strike that "targeted the vicinity of the scientific research building" in Damascus's northern Barzeh neighborhood, and a raid in the vicinity of Hama, without specifying what was hit.

The Israeli military said in a statement that forces "struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian bases of Hama and T4, along with additional remaining military infrastructure sites in the area of Damascus".

Israel has said it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities, whom it considers extremists.

The Syrian ministry said the strikes came as the country was trying to rebuild after 14 years of war, calling it a strategy to "normalize violence within the country".

Last month, Israel said it struck the T4 military base in central Homs province twice, targeting military capabilities at the site.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that "four people were killed and others wounded, including Syrian defense ministry personnel, in the strikes on Hama military airport".

Buffer zone

The monitor said those raids, which targeted "remaining planes, runways and towers, put the airport completely out of service," also reporting that the Damascus strikes targeted the research center in Barzeh.

In the days after Assad's fall on December 8, the Britain-based Observatory reported Israeli strikes targeting the center.

Western countries including the United States had previously struck the defense ministry facility in 2018, saying it was related to Syria's "chemical weapons infrastructure".

Also since Assad's fall, Israel has deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights and called for the complete demilitarization of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan.

Authorities in south Syria's Daraa on Telegram late Wednesday said that several Israeli military vehicles entered an area in the province's west, reporting that "three (Israeli) artillery shells" targeted the area.

The Observatory has reported repeated Israeli military incursions into southern Syria beyond the demarcation line in recent months.

Last month, during a visit to Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Israeli strikes on Syria were "unnecessary" and threatened to worsen the situation.