Iraqi and Lebanese clerics have, for the first time, revealed that the office of Iraq’s top Shiite authority, Ali al-Sistani, sent a letter to Hezbollah in Lebanon weeks before the assassination of the group’s former secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, warning of the “grave consequences of a war without rules” and urging the protection of all civilian lives in Lebanon.

The message, described as a piece of advice, was delivered to Hezbollah’s leadership after the September 2024 explosions of pager devices across Lebanon, according to exclusive remarks Asharq Al-Awsat obtained from Shiite religious figures in Beirut and Najaf.

A Lebanese cleric who said he was briefed on the content of the letter during a private meeting held a week after the pager blasts told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sistani’s advice “encouraged decisions that prioritized not only the lives of Shiites, but all civilians in Lebanon.”

On September 17, 2024, dozens of pager devices used by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously, killing nine people and wounding more than 2,700 in Beirut and southern Lebanon.

The incident shocked the country. “The pager explosions marked the beginning of the end,” said another Lebanese cleric. In the following weeks, Israel intensified its attacks, culminating in Nasrallah’s assassination later that month.

‘A war without rules’

According to a Lebanese Shiite cleric interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat at his home near Beirut’s southern suburbs, the message from Sistani’s office warned that “the assault on Lebanon knows no limits, and the fire of war is unrestrained by rules, which makes it imperative to assume responsibility for protecting Lebanese lives.”

The cleric, a man in his mid-sixties wearing a white turban, spoke beside family photos of young relatives from his southern village who were killed in an Israeli airstrike last year.

By the time a ceasefire was reached in November 2024, about 3,700 people had been killed and more than 15,000 wounded in Lebanon since the war began on October 8, according to Lebanese authorities.

Two Shiite clerics told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sistani’s message stressed that decisions in such critical circumstances “must align with the believers’ interests and that Lebanon should not be dragged into wars serving foreign agendas that deepen its people’s suffering.”

An Iraqi cleric added: “The message of the Shiite religious authority in Iraq and the world should be understood as guidance and counsel only. These are the unchanging traditions of Najaf’s religious establishment.” He continued: “Sistani’s advice is never imposed, but it is always well heard.”

Questions from Lebanon’s followers

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that the letter was sent after followers of Sistani in Lebanon- many of whom had taken refuge in Najaf during the conflict - had written to the religious authority’s office seeking direction.

According to the Iraqi cleric, “dozens of Sistani’s followers in Lebanon asked what they should do as the war’s scope expanded.”

Sistani is the spiritual guide for millions of Shiites worldwide, with a strong following across the Arab Levant and Iran.

Religious institutions in Najaf and Karbala supervised by Sistani’s office had, in coordination with the Iraqi government, helped shelter thousands of Lebanese who fled the war.

By mid-October 2024, Lebanese government figures indicated that some 20,000 Lebanese - mostly from southern villages - had chosen to remain in Iraq until the end of the war.

On September 23, 2024, Sistani’s office in Najaf issued a statement urging “every possible effort to protect the Lebanese people from the devastating Israeli aggression,” and calling for steps “to alleviate their suffering and meet their humanitarian needs.”

A day later, Nasrallah responded in a statement saying, “The battle between right and falsehood... we do not fear their numbers nor the absence of supporters.”

Lebanon’s place in Najaf’s vision

Analysts say the message from Sistani’s office reflected deep concern over the region’s potential slide into chaos.

Hisham Daoud, an Iraqi researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, said Lebanon holds “significant importance for the Najaf religious authority, not only because of its large Shiite population or the influence Najaf exerts there, but also because of its regional and international relevance despite its fragile circumstances.”

“Lebanon is, for Najaf, an essential gateway to the world, particularly to Europe and the West,” Daoud told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He added that Lebanon exemplifies “coexistence with the religiously different,” which requires acceptance of its pluralism and maintaining its delicate internal balance.

Daoud stressed that this does not mean Sistani’s establishment is uninterested in seeing Lebanese Shiites play a more prominent political role, but that it should happen “peacefully, through the state and its institutions, while respecting Lebanon’s fine-tuned internal equilibrium.”

More than a year after the war ended, Hezbollah is under mounting pressure to disarm and integrate into Lebanon’s political life. But the Iran-backed group has resisted implementing the “arms exclusivity” plan, arguing it would “serve Israel,” according to party leaders.

On October 12, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Washington had rejected a proposal by mediators to transfer Hezbollah’s strategic weapons for “safekeeping” to a “guaranteeing” third party in Iraq.