Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (center) arrives at the government palace to meet Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in Beirut on January 9, 2026. (JOSEPH EID / AFP via Getty Images)
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.
IRANIAN DISSIDENT UNLOADS ON AMERICAN LEFT'S SILENCE ON DEADLY PROTESTS
Protestors burn images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally held in Solidarity with Iran's Uprising, organised by The national Council of Resistance of Iran, on Whitehall in central London Jan. 11, 2026, to protest against the Iranian regime's crackdown on internet access and "recognise their right to self-defence against the regime's forces". (Carlos Jasso/AFP via Getty Images)
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