"Couldn't care less": Trump dismisses Iran's withdrawal from interim deal

Speaking in a brief phone interview with US cable network NewsNation, Trump was asked about Tehran's announcement that it would no longer adhere to the interim agreement signed with the United States last month.

"I couldn't care less," Trump said.

He added that the war's primary objective is "never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

The MoU was signed between Washington and Tehran in mid-June to end the war launched by the US and Israel in February.

The latest exchange of deadly strikes began amid disagreements over the management of the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, according to the latest updates, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it has intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-9 drone in Ahvaz, a city in the Khuzestan region that borders Iraq, state-run Press TV reported.

An MQ-9 is a "large, remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicle designed primarily for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and air strikes," according to a description by the US Air Force.

The development comes amid a sharp escalation in regional hostilities, with US Central Command (CENTCOM) carrying out a series of military operations targeting Iranian assets. The strikes mark an "eighth consecutive night" of kinetic actions against Tehran-backed facilities in the region.

According to an official statement released on X, the operation was executed late Saturday under direct authorisation from the White House. "US Central Command (CENTCOM) completed another round of strikes against Iran on July 18 at 11:30 p.m. ET, at the Commander in Chief's direction," the statement read.

Authorised by US President Donald Trump, the military engagement was also "designed to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," CENTCOM stated.

Reacting to the developments, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who assumed leadership following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei, during the February 28 opening of hostilities, severely criticised the American administration.

In a statement published on X, the supreme leader, who has remained out of public view since the outbreak of the war, asserted, "The repeated breaches of the agreement by the Great Satan [the US] regarding the MOU signed by the Presidents of Iran and the US have once again laid bare a fundamental truth. The signature of the US President is utterly worthless and devoid of credibility." He further warned that the ongoing campaign "once again demonstrated to everyone the worthlessness of the American president's signature".

Earlier, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that Tehran no longer considers itself committed to implementing the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US, signed last month, after the United States violated its obligations under the agreement by escalating its military strike on the Islamic Republic.

According to a statement carried by Iranian state media, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Baghaei said that the MoU was based on reciprocal commitments and that Washington's actions had altered Iran's position on the agreement.

"The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was based on a commitment for a commitment, and with the US's action to violate its commitments, Iran no longer considers itself committed to implementing it," Baghaei said.

The Iranian spokesperson further stated that Tehran's retaliatory military actions were limited to self-defence and targeted only US military assets.

"We have only defended ourselves and have not attacked any targets other than US military bases and military equipment," he said.

Baghaei further stated that the US and Israel's strikes targeting civilian areas during their operations amounted to war crimes.

"The US and the Zionist regime have mainly targeted civilian centres and ordinary people in their attacks, which is a clear example of a war crime," he added. (ANI)