Trump says resumption of war with Iran 'highly unlikely'

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday cast doubt on renewed fighting with Iran, telling CNN that it was "highly unlikely" so long as talks progressed. In recent weeks, Trump has threatened to renew strikes with U.S. media reports suggesting that hostilities could resume after the U.S. midterm elections this week. "The answer is highly unlikely it's going to be necessary... 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 said, while warning that any decision to resume hostilities "depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement." Trump previously acknowledged that the highly unpopular war with Iran was at least partially responsible for the stinging defeat that his Republican Party suffered in Tuesday's vote. In the CNN interview Sunday, Trump once again suggested that the economic pressure Iran is under will force its leaders into accepting a peace deal on the United States' terms. "They're a failing nation. It just came out, you saw this year, 301 percent inflation," Trump claimed. "They're withe