The ayatollah wields considerable influence among Shiites, who make up more than 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million people. Al-Hakim heads the biggest Shiite political movement -- the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
A spokesman for the US-led coalition in Baghdad declined comment on al-Sistani's reported remarks, saying the head of the administration, Paul Bremer, had no wish "to negotiate in public."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the spokesman said the Nov. 15 accord was a "framework" agreement and that "a lot of difficult details must still be worked out."
In Washington, US defense officials announced that several thousand additional US Marines would head to Iraq next year.
The Pentagon had announced on Nov. 6 that the total number of US troops in Iraq would add up to about 105,000 after troop rotations are completed in May, but the additional Marines appear to bump up that total to 110,000.
Washington currently has 130,000 troops in Iraq.
Meanwhile, about 100 runners celebrated the US Thanksgiving holiday in Iraq with a "camel trot" through Saddam Hussein's palace complex in downtown Baghdad, past bombed-out mansions and concrete blast walls topped with razor wire.
In Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, thousands of American soldiers celebrated Thanksgiving with imported turkey, cranberry sauce, a rock concert and a jog across a sandbagged camp dotted with bombed-out palaces.
In Baghdad, runners in the 10km and 5km races, were mostly military personnel or members of the US-led coalition running Iraq.
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