Senator warns of further US force against Iran if ultimatum ignored | Iran International
Senator warns of further US force against Iran if ultimatum ignored
US Republican Senator Dave McCormick said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump issued Iran an ultimatum and could resort to additional military force if Tehran fails to respond.
“Iran has blood on its hands, American blood, Israeli blood. It's threatened to destroy America with nuclear capability. So it's a terrible actor. It's been underwriting terror for decades in the Middle East, McCormick told CNBC.
“So I think what we're trying to do now is tighten the noose. That's what the President is trying to put pressure on Iran to act as a good actor. We shouldn't have a lot of trust for Iran and I think what they're going to see is, if President Trump's saying he's going to do something, I think, and they don't, they don't respond appropriately, I think that he's likely to use additional capability, additional military force in some form or another,” he added.
A senior director of the Tehran bureau of Japanese public broadcaster NHK has been arrested and transferred to Evin Prison, people familiar with the matter told Iran International.
One source told Iran International the journalist is currently being held in Ward 7 of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.
In a report earlier on Tuesday, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty identified the journalist as Shinnosuke Kawashima.
The exact date of his arrest and the charges against him remain unclear.
NHK did not immediately respond to Iran International’s request for comment.
Iranian state media on Tuesday denied reports of an armed clash near the office of Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran on Monday.
The exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) had earlier announced that more than 100 of its members were killed or arrested in heavy fighting in the area.
According to a statement by the group, “more than 100 Mujahids were martyred or detained from dawn until the afternoon of Monday in a series of clashes with regime forces” that began at Khamenei’s office at the time of the morning call to prayer.
Later on Tuesday, the group announced it had shared the names of 16 of its members detained during the clashes with the UN special rapporteur and was investigating the fate of “other detainees and victims.”
The semi-official Mehr News Agency wrote on Tuesday: “In a funny and staged act, four mercenaries used PVC pipes to construct something resembling a child’s toy and attempted to create noise in central Tehran in order to continue benefiting from the favors of their masters.”
The agency added that the individuals were “arrested during a regional patrol by FARAJA,” Iran’s Law Enforcement Command.
Bultan News, a media outlet affiliated with security institutions, had written in a piece on Monday afternoon: “The sound of repeated explosions last night in the vicinity of Pasteur Street, the most secure area of the capital, has raised a serious question before all officials and those concerned about the establishment.”
Zahedan’s Sunni Friday prayer leader, in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, warned that ignoring public demands following the January protests would push the country into deeper crises.
“(January) is a reminder of the heavy cost of not hearing the people’s voice; we lost Iran’s best young people and this grief will never be forgotten,” Molavi Abdolhamid, wrote on X, referring to the January protests.
“Ignoring public demands pushes the country toward deeper crises. Lasting stability and security are only possible by yielding to the will of the people and showing practical respect for their demands,” he added.
Tehran’s envoy addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday drew sharp criticism from activists, who argued that giving Iran a platform so soon after its deadly crackdown sent a painful message to victims’ families.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, spoke before the council in Geneva as most delegates remained seated, despite calls from campaigners urging democratic governments to walk out.
For many Iranians, the moment underscored what they see as a stark reality: while families continue to mourn the thousands killed in the protests, representatives of the same government accused of carrying out the violence were again granted an international platform at the world’s leading human rights body.
“Several UN Human Rights bodies have found that the Islamic Republic is committing crimes against humanity. The regime’s perpetrators should be punished rather than given a platform,” Brandon Silver, director of policy and projects at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, told Iran International.
In the days leading up to the session, human rights advocates and Iranian activists urged democratic governments to leave the chamber during the speech.
In an interview conducted before Gharibabadi was set to speak, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer called on governments to refuse participation, warning that granting Tehran a podium would send a devastating message to victims and their families.
“You cannot grant a false badge of international legitimacy to a regime that just murdered tens of thousands of its people,” Neuer told Eye for Iran, adding, “Shame on the UN for inviting the murderers who try to wound and kill innocent people.”
A global petition supporting the walkout effort gathered more than 360,000 signatures. But video from Monday’s session showed that most delegations remained in place as the Iranian official delivered his remarks.
Tehran’s narrative
During his speech, Gharibabadi dismissed reports of large-scale killings and instead accused the United States and Israel of orchestrating unrest inside Iran.
He claimed “enemies of Iran” had diverted economic protests into “riots and chaos,” alleging that demonstrators committed “Daesh-like atrocities,” while asserting official figures showed 3,117 total deaths — far below estimates reported by rights groups.
He further accused supporters of the protest movement abroad of spreading “fabricated casualty figures,” while insisting Iran itself was a defender of human rights.
The claims closely mirrored messaging that has circulated across state media and official channels since the crackdown.
A recent joint investigation by Iran International and The Free Press documented what it described as a coordinated international information campaign launched alongside the repression, blaming the domestic uprising on foreign conspiracies and amplifying those narratives through media personalities and social media networks.
Diplomacy over grief
For families of victims, the speech stood in sharp contrast to testimonies emerging from inside Iran.
One father told Eye for Iran that his 17-year-old son, wounded during demonstrations, was later killed inside a hospital while doctors were attempting to save him — one of many accounts shared by families seeking international recognition and accountability.
Activists say allowing such narratives to be delivered at the Human Rights Council risks amplifying disputed claims while survivors continue to demand justice.
Politics over principles
Later the same day in Geneva, Gharibabadi also appeared at the UN Conference on Disarmament, where images captured him greeting and shaking hands with UN Secretary-General António Guterres following the session.
For critics, the optics reinforced what they see as a rapid return to diplomatic normalcy despite the recent crackdown.
“The UN either stands for something or it doesn’t,” Hillel Neuer told Eye for Iran, arguing that international institutions cannot claim to defend human rights while granting legitimacy to officials accused of mass repression.
For many Iranians watching from inside the country and across the diaspora, the sequence—a speech at the Human Rights Council followed by diplomatic handshakes—symbolized the uneasy coexistence of international diplomacy and unresolved domestic trauma.
The US military has rapidly increased its presence near Iran, shifting more than 150 aircraft to bases in Europe and the Middle East since nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran ended without a breakthrough on Feb. 17, The Washington Post reported, citing flight tracking data and satellite imagery.
The current US force presence in the region is among the largest in more than two decades, dating back to the period before the 2003 Iraq war, the report said.
Experts who reviewed the deployment said the scale exceeds the buildup seen before US strikes on Iran’s nuclear program in June last year and reflects preparations consistent with a multiday air campaign without a ground invasion, according to the report.
