BAGHDAD: Iraq`s top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani warned against targeting Iran`s leadership and said that the Iran-Israel war could plunge the whole region into chaos.

Sistani said in a statement on Thursday that any targeting of Iran`s `supreme religious and political leadership` would have `dire consequences on the region`.

He warned that suchaction against the Islamic republic could spark `widespread chaos that would exacerbate the suffering of its (the region`s) people and severely harm everyone`s interests`.

Sistani urged the international community to `make every effort to end this unjust war and find a peaceful solution` to concerns about Iran`s nuclear programme.

Sistani, an Iranian, is thehighest religious authority for millions of Shias in Iraq and around the world, with the power to mobilise a huge following in Iraq.

Israel`s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Iran`s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei `can no longer be allowed to exist` after an Israeli hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack.-AFP