Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected claims of mass casualties amid a recent surge in protests within the Islamic country and blamed any killings that have taken place on an ‘Israeli plot’ intended to create a large number of casualties. 

The claim came during a wide-ranging interview on Fox News’ ‘Special Report with Brett Baier’ Wednesday evening, during which Araghchi was told estimates have indicated the death toll in his country could be anywhere between 2,500 to more than 12,000 protesters. But, according to the top Iranian official, the number is in the hundreds. 

‘When terrorist elements led from outside, entered this, you know, protests and started to shoot, you know, police forces, police officers and security forces. And there were terrorist cells. They came in, they used Daesh-style terrorist operations. They got police officers, burned them alive, they beheaded them, and they started shooting at police officers and also to the people. So as a result, for three days, we had, in fact, fighting against terrorists, and not with the protesters,’ Araghchi said. ‘It was completely a different story.’

According to Araghchi, these rogue, terrorist-like actors he spoke of started shooting at civilians for ‘one reason,’ which he said was to draw the United States into the conflict. 

‘They wanted to increase the number of deaths. Why? Because President Trump has said that if there are killings, he would intervene. And they wanted to drag him into this conflict,’ the Iranian Foreign Minister continued. ‘And that was exactly an Israeli plot. They started to increase the number of deaths by killing ordinary people, by killing police officers, by starting a kind of, you know, fighting inside the different cities.’

Iran has seen widespread unrest since the last week of December, as the country faces a massive economic crash that spurred many in Iran to take to the streets in protest.

Contrary to Araghchi’s claims are eyewitness reports that describe government forces in Iran firing upon unarmed protesters. Some even spoke of snipers taking aim at innocent Iranians, according to testimony shared with the New York Times.

During Baier’s interview with Iran’s Foreign Minister, Araghchi also insisted that there are no imminent plans to hang, or otherwise execute, protesters. The top Iranian official tried to downplay the unrest erupting in his country as well, arguing there is now ‘a calm.’    

‘We are in full control,’ Araghchi added. ‘And let’s, you know, hope that wisdom would prevail. And we don’t go for a high level of tension, which could be disastrous for everybody.’

The House of Representatives passed a roughly $80 billion spending package Wednesday evening, taking a significant step toward averting a government shutdown at the end of this month.

The package combines two of Congress’ 12 annual appropriations bills in what’s called a ‘minibus.’ It covers funding for the State Department and related national security, as well as federal financial services and general government operations.

The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 341-79 vote.

Glaring questions still remain, however, over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as progressives threaten to withhold support from any such bill unless it’s paired with significant reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The push comes from the left in response to an ICE agent shooting 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen who was driving her car when it made physical contact with a law enforcement official who then fatally shot her.

Partisan divisions have erupted over the narrative, with GOP officials like DHS Secretary Kristi Noem saying the agent acted in self-defense, while Democrats on Capitol Hill have called for criminal investigations.

DHS funding was initially expected to be part of this minibus, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters earlier this week he would like to see the bill as part of the final package that’s also expected to include funding for the Department of War, Department of Transportation, Department of Labor, the Education Department and Health and Human Services, among others.

But the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., told reporters Tuesday she wanted to see DHS funding as a separate bill.

‘It’s got to be by itself,’ DeLauro said. ‘It’s got to be separate.’

Meanwhile, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is formally threatening to oppose any DHS funding that does not change immigration enforcement policy, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., announced.

‘Our caucus members will oppose all funding for immigration enforcement in any appropriation bills until meaningful reforms are enacted to end militarized policing practices. We cannot, and we should not continue to fund agencies that operate with impunity,’ she told reporters.

But the bill that passed Wednesday did so with wide bipartisan support, as expected.

All federal spending bills after last year’s government shutdown are a product of bipartisan discussions between the House and Senate.

The recent package totals just over $76 billion in federal funds and is now headed to the Senate for its approval before reaching President Donald Trump’s desk.

The State Department and national security bill includes $850 million for an ‘America First Opportunity Fund,’ aimed at giving the secretary of state funding to respond to potential unforeseen circumstances.

Both Republicans and Democrats touted different victories in the legislation, with a summary by House Appropriations Committee Republicans stating the bill supports ‘President Trump’s America First foreign policy by eliminating wasteful spending on DEI or woke programming, climate change mandates, and divisive gender ideologies.’

Democrats said the bill ‘supports women globally’ by ‘protecting funding for bilateral family planning and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’ and pointed to $6.8 billion for a new account ‘that supports the activities previously funded under Development Assistance.’ 

The bill also provides millions in security assistance for Israel and Taiwan, among other global partners across the world.

The latter bill provides just over $13 billion for the U.S. Treasury for the remainder of fiscal year 2026, while also including a provision that stops the IRS ‘from targeting individuals or groups for exercising their First Amendment rights or ideological beliefs,’ according to Republicans.

It also provides $872 million for the Executive Office of the President and $9.69 billion in discretionary funding for the Federal Judiciary.

Across the Capitol, the Senate is expected to vote on and pass the previous three-bill funding package on Thursday before leaving Washington, D.C., for a weeklong recess.

Neither side appears willing to thrust the government into another shutdown, with Senate Democrats in particular viewing the package as an opportunity to fund several of their priorities. But there is a growing consensus that a short-term funding patch will be needed to allow lawmakers to finish work on the thornier DHS bill.

‘Homeland is obviously the hardest one, and it’s possible that, if we can’t get agreement, that there could be some sort of CR that funds some of these bills into next year,’ Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said.

Still, bipartisan funding talks are still happening, a stark departure from the last government funding deadline in October. But lawmakers in the upper chamber won’t be able to tackle the two-bill package until they return toward the end of the month.

Several federal prosecutors in Minnesota were formally fired on Wednesday after they gave notice that they had resigned in the wake of internal disagreements over the Justice Department’s handling of a shooting investigation involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The DOJ, at the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, terminated the employment of five prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, including Joseph Thompson, the No. 2 official there,according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Their resignations and the internal disputes about the shooting probe first surfaced in the New York Times. The prosecutors were positioned to receive paid leave for months prior to their firings on Wednesday,according to the sources.

Thompson was spearheading a massive, high-profile investigation into welfare fraud in the state before he submitted his resignation. His exit came after he clashed with officials in Washington, D.C., over the investigation into the ICE shooting, which left 37-year-old Renee Good dead. Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota in an effort to reach Thompson for comment.

Thompson had expressed during a call with DOJ and FBI officials last week that he was on board with investigating the ICE shooting as an assault on or obstruction of a law enforcement officer, a source familiar with the call told Fox News Digital.

Another one of the fired prosecutors, Melinda Williams, who was also involved in the fraud work, was on the call as well, the source said.

Thompson also indicated that he believed the shooting was justified, two sources said. Prior to the shooting, he had already been discussing the possibility of resigning, the sources said.

Videos of the shooting showed an ICE agent opening fire on Good at close range after she was seen accelerating toward the agent in her vehicle while he was standing in front of it. Critics have argued that the agent improperly used deadly force against Good and that she had turned the wheels of her vehicle away from the agent before accelerating.

The FBI is investigating the incident and has excluded Minnesota prosecutors from the probe, which the Trump administration has said is justified because the incident involved a federal officer. Minnesota leaders have denounced that decision and launched their own parallel investigation.

While supportive of conducting the investigation as an offensive against law enforcement — rather than a civil rights matter against the agent — Thompson had reservations during last week’s call about the DOJ’s plan to also investigate Good’s widow and other possible co-conspirators, the source familiar with the call said.

The FBI had developed evidence that suggested Good and her spouse had at some point been following ICE officers on the day of the shooting, the source said.

That revelation echoes Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s allegations during a recent press conference that Good had been ‘stalking and impeding’ ICE throughout the day of the shooting. Noem said Good ‘weaponized’ her vehicle and that the ICE agent who fired shots feared for his life.

In a statement to Minnesota Public Radio, Good’s spouse, Becca, said that on Jan. 7, the day of the shooting, she and Renee ‘stopped to support [their] neighbors.’

‘We had whistles. They had guns,’ Becca Good said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other Democrats have lauded the prosecutors who resigned, framing their departures as a valiant boycott against DOJ.

‘These prosecutors are heroes, and the people pushing to prosecute Renee’s widow are monsters,’ Frey wrote on X.

At this stage, there is no sign that the DOJ is planning to bring charges against Becca Good, despite the DOJ and FBI pursuing an investigation into her as part of a broader probe into any conspiracies to hinder federal law enforcement operations.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

David Spunt contributed to this report.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina declared in a Wednesday post on X that the U.S. should utilize ‘any means necessary’ to stop the individuals ‘responsible for killing’ Iranians.

‘People often ask me what should we do next when it comes to the murderous, religious Nazi regime in Iran. It’s pretty simple. Stand by the protesters demanding an end to their oppression. But it’s going to take more than standing by them. We must stop those who are responsible for killing the people by any means necessary ASAP. Make The Iranian People Safe Again,’ the hawkish lawmaker said in the post on X.

Protesters in the Islamic Republic of Iran have been met with a deadly crackdown.

‘We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,’ President Donald Trump said on Wednesday afternoon, noting, ‘we’ve been told on good authority. And I hope it’s true.’

But in a Wednesday night post on X, Graham said, ‘Every indication that I’ve seen says that the Iranian regime’s killing of protestors is still very much in full swing. The death toll is mounting by the hour. Hoping that help is on the way.’

President Trump has been declaring his support for Iranian dissidents and promising that help is coming.

‘Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!’ the U.S. commander in chief declared in a Tuesday Truth Social post, using an acronym to abbreviate the phrase ‘Make Iran Great Again.’

Graham, an advocate for U.S. intervention against the Iranian regime, shared a screenshot of the president’s post and discussed the issue.

‘The tipping point of this long journey will be President Trump’s resolve. No boots on the ground, but unleashing holy hell — as he promised — on the regime that has trampled every red line. A massive wave of military, cyber and psychological attacks is the meat and bones of ‘help is on the way,’’ Graham declared in the post.

‘What am I looking for? Destroy the infrastructure that allows the massacre and slaughter of the Iranian people, and take down the leaders responsible for the killing,’ he noted.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi plans to dissolve Parliament’s powerful lower house as early as this month, setting up a snap election aimed at securing voter backing for her agenda while her approval ratings remain high, a senior party official said.

The Associated Press reported that the move would allow Takaichi to seek fresh support for her economic and security priorities at a time when her scandal-tainted party and a new coalition partner hold only a slim majority in Japan’s legislature.

Takaichi made history in October when she was elected as Japan’s first female prime minister.

Described by some Japanese and international media as an ultraconservative, hard-line figure, Takaichi has backed strengthening Japan’s defense posture, emerged as a vocal China hawk and supported constitutional revisions to expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces.

Calling a snap election could allow Takaichi to capitalize on approval ratings of about 70% and help her Liberal Democratic Party gain additional seats in Parliament.

Shunichi Suzuki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters that Takaichi informed him and other senior officials of her intention to dissolve the lower house ‘soon’ after it convenes Jan. 23.

Suzuki said no date has been set for dissolving the chamber or holding a snap election, adding that Takaichi plans to outline her strategy at a news conference Monday.

Takaichi’s scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition hold only a narrow majority in the lower house, Parliament’s more powerful chamber, after losses in the 2024 election.

By calling an early vote, Takaichi appears to be aiming to expand her party’s share of seats and strengthen its position alongside a new junior coalition partner.

Opposition lawmakers criticized the plan as self-serving, saying it would delay urgent parliamentary debate over the national budget, which must be approved quickly.

Echoing Suzuki’s comments, media reports have said Takaichi plans to dissolve the lower house on Jan. 23, the opening day of this year’s ordinary parliamentary session, potentially setting the stage for a snap election as early as Feb. 8.

Takaichi is seeking voter backing for her agenda, including ‘proactive’ fiscal spending and an accelerated military buildup under a new coalition with the Japan Innovation Party, Suzuki said.

The conservative Japan Innovation Party joined the ruling bloc after the centrist Komeito party withdrew, citing disagreements over Takaichi’s ideological positions and her approach to anti-corruption reforms.

Takaichi met Wednesday with Suzuki and other coalition leaders after holding talks in Nara with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at a summit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties. The meetings came as she faces rising trade and political tensions with China following remarks on Taiwan that angered Beijing days after she took office.

Winning a snap election would also make it easier for Takaichi and her governing bloc to pass a budget and advance other legislation.

Her Cabinet approved a record 122.3 trillion yen ($770 billion) budget in late December that must clear Parliament before the fiscal year begins in April. The plan includes measures to fight inflation, support low-income households and boost economic growth.

Known for her hawkish and nationalistic views and her ultra-conservative positions on social issues, including gender and sexual diversity, Takaichi is seeking to reclaim conservative voters drawn to emerging populist parties in recent elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.