Lawmakers said the death of the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group's leader and its heavy losses in Iraq and Syria would spell the end of the outfit, but warned that more needs to be done to root out the source of such atrocious ideas.
Lawmaker Sadeq Tabatabaeinejad told ICANA that "militarily speaking, IS is finished. But the group created a new thought in the name of Islam which is more dangerous."
"A cultural battle has to be waged to wipe out the group's terrorist school of thought," he said.
"IS's underlying roots will not change by the death of its leaders."
On Tuesday, the Al Sumaria News broadcaster and UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the Islamic State issued a statement confirming Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death.
On June 16, the Russian Defense Ministry said Baghdadi was likely eliminated as a result of a Russian Aerospace Forces' strike on a militant command post in the southern suburb of the city of Raqqa in late May. It noted that it was in the process of confirming the information through other channels.
However, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Friday the US cannot confirm claims that Baghdadi is dead.
"We assume he's alive until it's proven otherwise. And right now, I can't prove it otherwise," Mattis told reporters.
Brain Dead
Lawmaker Ali Bakhtiar said Baghdadi's death means IS is now in "a state of brain death and would soon meet its end", noting that a new leader would never be able to revive the terror organization.
"The liberation of Mosul deprived IS of its main base," he said, adding that other notable cities under control of IS in Iraq and Syria will also be set free in the near future. After eight months of grinding urban warfare, Iraqi troops on June 9 captured Mosul and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of the group's "state of falsehood".
Its stronghold in Syria, Raqqa, is also expected to fall soon.
Lawmaker Mohammad Javad Jamali said Baghdadi's death would weaken IS bases all over the world, noting that "we will soon witness the scourge of this group being wiped out in Syria as well."
Another Lawmaker Mohammad Mehdi Boroumandi said "the IS chapter in history would still be open even if its leader is dead", arguing that the group was not created on its own and had foreign backers.
"IS is a terrorist group that was supported by certain countries. Unless these backers stop [their support], there will not be an end to the terror group," he said.
Saudi Assistance to IS
Qatari al-Sharq newspaper revealed on Thursday that 150 Saudi intelligence agents were fighting alongside IS members in Mosul, working hard to extend the battle.
The paper added that Iraqi government forces confiscated important documents certifying Saudi intelligence officers' assistance to IS terrorists once they liberated Mosul.
The leaked documents were published by Qatari media after confidential agreements between Qatar and Persian Gulf Arab states had been revealed earlier by CNN aimed at undermining efforts to heal the ongoing Saudi-Qatari dispute.
The tit-for-tat move added to the authenticity of the documents, as they were confirmed by many as papers provided by sources in the Qatari establishment.
"At the end, the IS chapter will not be closed by its leader's death. There will certainly be alternatives that will be put forward by its [foreign state] backers," Boroumandi concluded.
