Trump Says He ‘Doesn’t Care’ if Iran Halts MOU Compliance After First US Troops Killed

‘Very sad’ over US troop deaths

War aim is to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons

Iran says it suspended compliance after US violated MOU

President Donald Trump on July 18 called the deaths of US troops "a very sad thing" as the US carried out an eighth straight day of airstrikes on Iran.

In a phone interview with NewsNation, Trump said the service members died while serving their country. He said the central aim of the war was to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons.

Asked about Iran’s announcement that it would no longer comply with the memorandum of understanding, Trump said he did not 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 under orders from the commander in chief. The strikes were aimed at further weakening Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly retaliating against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces after attacks on US troops in Jordan the night before, CENTCOM said.

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 suspended its own compliance because the US had violated and halted all of its obligations under the ceasefire memorandum of understanding. In a written message the same day, Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said the US was violating the MOU and that the agreement was worthless and invalid. He added that if Washington kept escalating military tensions and sought to impose greater costs, the Iranian people and the "Axis of Resistance" would teach the US an unforgettable lesson.

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