I should add: any theological proxy war is going to be waged by them and not us. Although it's true that Sistani has been helpful, he's nobody's puppet and, as a quietist, he doesn't really believe in getting involved in politics unless he has to. IIRC, the reason for Shi'ite quietism is that the marja aren't supposed to get involved in politics because that's the 12th Imam 's (the Mahdi's) ball of wax. Thus Khomenei is considered something of a heretic by most of the other Grand Ayatollahs. From what I gather, much of Qom was in lockdown for a while because the clergy there were speaking out against the regime. While Khomenei was still around, he could dominate all political discourse by virtue of his revolutionary authority and charisma, but Khamenei doesn't get the same kind of respect. In any event, Sistani does seem to be actively trying to court clergy away from Iran, and the return of the pilgrim and coffin trade has allowed him to expand his influence by setting up offices hither and yon. That's one of the reasons that it was so important for him to retain custodianship of the Imam Ali shrine.