He rarely appears in public, and during past political deadlocks, when U.S. presidents penned him letters requesting his assistance, he never deigned to respond. But in interviews this week, politicians revealed that he did write back when Dawa leaders reached out to him to seek
his opinion on whether Maliki should stay on as the country’s leader.

Due to the “critical circumstances” in Iraq, a “new vision” was necessary, Sistani said in the July 9 letter, made public on Wednesday.