The Supreme Religious Authority: If the scope of the popular movement widen, it will be an effective means to pressure those in power.

The representative of the supreme religious authority; Sheikh Abd al-Mahdi al-Karbala’i read during the sermon of the Friday prayer of the 9th Rabi’ Thani 1441 AH corresponding to December 6, 2019, held at the holy shrine of Imam al-Hussayn (peace be upon him) the text received from the office of the supreme religious authority in Najaf; his eminence Sayed al-Sistani in Najaf, in which he stated:

“There is no doubt that the popular movement, if its scope widens and includes the various groups, will be an effective means to pressure those in power to make way for real reforms in the administration of the country, but the basic condition for this is that it should not be drawn into acts of violence, chaos, and sabotage, as in addition that these acts are not justified legally and religiously, they will have adverse reversals on the reformist movement and lead to a decline in solidarity little by little, despite all the precious blood that was shed in order to achieve its legitimate goals, so we must be aware of this and be careful not to give an excuse to those who do not want reform to refrain from achieving it from this side .”