Iranian clerics have warned the US that a military assault on two holy cities in Iraq would unleash the wrath of Shia Muslims.

Their warning was echoed by President Mohammed Khatami, who said it would be "suicide" for the coalition to attack Najaf and Kerbala, still encircled by US forces.

It would "mobilise emotions among the world's Shia against the Americans", he added in a statement reported by Tehran newspapers. "I do not think they will make such a mistake, because if they did they would be caught up in a storm."

Three senior clerics used stronger language, saying they would issue fatwas (religious rulings) if the pilgrimage sites remained encircled.

"The US should know that the holy city of Najaf is the capital for all the world's Shias and that if the occupiers do not end the encirclement they will be confronted by all Shias," Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani said, according to the newspaper Hamshahri.

Najaf is the site of the tomb of Ali, the most important Shia saint. US commanders said talks aimed at resolving the standoff with Moqtada al-Sadr, the young cleric leading the insurgency in southern Iraq, had begun.

President Khatami and the clergy made no mention of Mr Sadr, in keeping with Iran's attempts to distance itself from him and his Mahdi army.

But Mr Khatami offered the most explicit endorsement yet of the more moderate and more senior cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has called for prompt elections and an end to the US occupation: "What we are in agreement with in Iraq is the policy and methods of Ayatollah Sistani."

With the US renewing its pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme, Tehran could choose to retaliate by stirring unrest in Iraq, analysts say.

© Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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