Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned Iran's leader that President Donald Trump will "kill" him if the Iranian regime continues to kill protesters in the country.

Graham made the stark threat during a Tuesday night appearance on Fox News, referencing the anti-regime protests raging in Iran. As of Wednesday, at least 36 people have been killed and more than 2,000 have been detained in the unrest.

"To the people of Iran: We stand with you tonight," Graham told host Sean Hannity. "We stand for you taking back your country from the Ayatollah, a religious Nazi who kills you and terrorizes the world."

"And to the Ayatollah: You need to understand, if you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is gonna kill you," he continued.

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"Help is on the way," he added in a message for Iranian citizens.

Graham's comments come amid a heated back-and-forth between Trump and the ayatollah's regime.

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The president wrote on Truth Social, "If Iran shoots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go."

Trump's warning took on a new meaning for Iran following the historic U.S. mission in Venezuela that led to the capture and extradition of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

The head of Iran's military threatened preemptive action in response to Trump's "rhetoric" on Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami made the threat while speaking to military academy students, saying, "The Islamic Republic considers the intensification of such rhetoric against the Iranian nation as a threat and will not leave its continuation without a response."

"I can say with confidence that today the readiness of Iran’s armed forces is far greater than before the war. If the enemy commits an error, it will face a more decisive response, and we will cut off the hand of any aggressor," he continued.

A major state audit in Minnesota conducted by the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor found widespread failures and internal control problems in the Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) grant program, reaffirming concerns about massive fraud issues.

The report, released on Monday, found that between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2024, DHS dished out more than $425 million in grants to 830 organizations, the majority being nongovernmental, and did not show proper oversight in watching over those taxpayer funds, which in many cases were meant to help those with addiction and mental health issues.

The audit found missing progress reports and discovered BHA could not show it had completed all required monitoring visits and had no documentation at all for some of them. 

Additionally, auditors discovered what appeared to be backdated or newly created documentation that did not exist before the audit, suggesting an effort to retroactively manufacture paperwork to show compliance.

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In one instance, the report found that a grant manager approved over $600,000 in payments and later left the government agency to work for the grantee.

"The OLA report shows a complete breakdown in how DHS’s Behavioral Health Administration manages hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded grants," Republican State Sen. Mark Koran said in a press release. "BHA failed to verify that grantees were providing the services they were paid for, failed to put basic financial controls in place, and then created documentation after the fact to mislead auditors.

"Minnesotans deserve integrity from state agencies. Fabricating evidence after an audit begins is unacceptable. It obstructs the OLA’s work and prevents DHS from correcting its failures. The finding that a DHS manager approved a large grant and later became a paid consultant for that same grantee is a blatant conflict of interest. This kind of misconduct erodes public trust and undermines the effectiveness of grant programs."

CRITICS WARN MINNESOTA LEGISLATION NOW TAKING EFFECT IS SETTING UP THE 'NEXT BILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD'

The audit also found that when employees were surveyed, 73% of them said they did not receive the necessary training to properly administer manage grants, with one employee saying, "Executive leadership has repetitively shown staff that they won’t take the staff’s concerns or questions seriously until something serious happens or it makes the news."

Minnesota’s government agencies are already under heavy scrutiny amid a fraud scandal that prosecutors say could total as much as $9 billion and has already forced Gov. Tim Walz to drop his re-election bid.

"Today’s shocking report by the Legislative Auditor shows a culture of pervasive fraud, negligence, and deception," Republican House Speaker DeMuth said about the report.

"We need answers immediately about the apparent backdating and potential falsification of documents found during the audit…It’s time to clean house and restore honesty and accountability in state agencies."

Ultimately, the report concluded that the state government "did not comply with most requirements tested for mental health and substance use disorder grants and did not have adequate internal controls over grant funds."

"The audit makes clear that DHS leadership has failed at every level. Employees were not properly trained, oversight was ignored, and accountability was missing, from Governor Walz, to Temporary DHS Commissioner Gandhi, to BHA managers. DHS needs a full reset, starting with leadership, training, ethics, and oversight," Koran said in the press release.

The report was immediately picked up on social media, including from an account on X run by hundreds of anonymous DHS staff members.

"Yes, MN DHS will falsify documents and data. Worst of all, they do it to state legislature to demand more state funding," Minnesota Staff Fraud Reporting Commentary posted on X. "And yes, MN DHS has lied to federal government. So.. fire Shireen Gandhi."

"Minnesota’s Legislative Auditor just dropped a BOMBSHELL," Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. "Tim Walz’s DHS fabricated records, had zero internal controls, and employees ignored oversight on more than $400 MILLION in grants. The fraud and corruption continues."

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment.

Gandhi, the acting DHS commissioner, said on Monday that the "findings provide us with a roadmap for our focus going forward to continue strengthening oversight and integrity of behavioral health grants."

"I take the report seriously, I accept responsibility for the findings."