United States President Donald Trump has said renewed fighting with Iran is “highly unlikely”, although he warned that the possibility would depend on whether Tehran agrees to a strong deal with Washington.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with CNN on Sunday, ahead of a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, at the White House on Monday.
The US president has threatened to resume military strikes against Iran in recent weeks, with American media reports suggesting that hostilities could restart after last Tuesday’s midterm elections.
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However, when asked about the possibility of fresh fighting, Trump said it was “highly unlikely”.
He added that his decision would depend on whether Iran signed what he described as a “very strong agreement”.
“I would if necessary, but we hit them really hard. I hit them so hard. You don’t know how hard I hit them,” Trump told CNN.
The planned meeting with Qatar’s prime minister comes amid efforts by regional countries to secure a lasting end to the conflict.
It will also be Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader since his Republican Party suffered a major defeat in the midterm elections, losing control of Congress.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that peace talks had been put on hold as both sides assessed the political implications of the US election results.
“For the past few days, there has been no more travel (by mediators), and the reason for this is the shock that the election results in the United States have caused to everyone,” Araghchi told Iranian state television.
He said further discussions would depend on how long it took the United States to assess the outcome of the elections.
Trump has acknowledged that the unpopular war with Iran, which began with US-Israeli strikes in late February, contributed to his party’s poor performance at the polls.
Araghchi also criticised Washington’s relationship with Israel, saying Americans were tired of being drawn into prolonged conflicts in the region.
“Americans are evidently sick and tired of Israel bamboozling US administrations into Forever Wars,” he wrote on X. “They had enough. So has our region.”
In the CNN interview, Trump also argued that economic pressure on Iran would force its leaders to accept US demands.
He claimed that Iran was facing inflation of 301 per cent and was weakening financially, adding that the United States could deal further military blows to the country.
However, official Iranian figures put the country’s year-on-year inflation rate at nearly 90 per cent in September.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported that Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz came under attack overnight on Sunday, hours after the state news agency IRNA reported two explosions in the area.
Several regional countries, including Qatar and Pakistan, have been working to secure a permanent end to the war, but their efforts have yet to produce an agreement.
Although large-scale fighting has largely subsided, tensions remain high. Iran continues its efforts to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for global energy supplies, while the US Navy maintains a counterblockade of Iranian ports.
