Trump Says He ‘Doesn’t Care’ as Iran Halts MOU Compliance After First US Troop Deaths

‘Very sad’ over US troop deaths

War aim is to keep Iran from ever obtaining nuclear weapons

Iran says it halted compliance after US violated MOU

President Donald Trump on July 18 called the deaths of US service members “a very sad thing” as the US continued airstrikes on Iran for an eighth day.

In a phone interview with NewsNation, Trump said the troops died while serving their country. He also said the central goal of the war was to ensure Iran never obtains nuclear weapons.

Asked about Iran’s announcement that it would no longer comply with the MOU, Trump said he “doesn’t care at all.”

US Central Command said on X that it launched a new round of airstrikes on Iran at 6 p.m. Eastern time on July 18 on the orders of the commander in chief. CENTCOM said the strikes were intended to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and to swiftly retaliate against forces from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, that attacked US troops in Jordan the previous night.

In Jordan on July 17, two US service members were killed and one was missing while defending against an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, said on July 18 that Tehran had also halted compliance because the US had violated and suspended all of its obligations under the memorandum of understanding ending the war. Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said in a written message the same day that the US was violating the MOU and that the agreement was worthless and invalid. He said that if the US continued to escalate military tensions and sought a greater price, the noble Iranian people and the “Axis of Resistance” would teach the US an unforgettable lesson.

Park Su-bin, Hankyung.com reporter waterbean@hankyung.com