Donald Trump has claimed Iran is negotiating with the U.S. to end the current war but is “afraid” to admit it.

The 79-year-old president made the remark at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner on Wednesday evening.

“They are negotiating, by the way,” Trump claimed of Iran. “They want to make a deal so badly but they are afraid to say it. Because they figure they will be killed by their own people. They are also afraid they will be killed by us.”

His comments directly contradict Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who said the country was not in negotiations with the U.S. over a resolution to the war and had “no intention” to have any such conversations.

Speaking on Iran’s state TV news channel, he said the U.S. had been “sending various messages through different intermediaries” for several days.

Araghchi clarified that the messages were “conveyed via friendly countries” and said the fact Iran was responding by stating their “positions and issuing warnings” is “neither dialogue nor negotiation, nor anything of the sort.”

He confirmed that Iran’s policy was to continue “defending” itself and said they had “no intention of negotiating for now”.

“This is Israel’s war and people of the region and people of the U.S. are paying the price for it,” he said.

Araghchi’s comments came as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that Trump had been negotiating with Iran this week.

Leavitt claimed Wednesday that the U.S. has been “engaged over the last three days in productive conversations,” which had seen Trump postpone planned strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure.

“There does not need to be any more death and destruction,” Leavitt said. “But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.”

She added, “President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again.”

Trump pushed forward with his dismissal of Iran in his speech, even joking about the country. “There’s never been a head of a country that wanted that job less than being the head of Iran.” He added, “They say, ‘I don’t want it.’ We’ll make you the next supreme leader, ‘No thank you, I don’t want it.’”

Trump even said he was avoiding using the word “war” to discuss the current situation with Iran, which began on Feb. 28 after U.S. and Israeli air strikes on the country.

“I won’t use the word war because they say if you use the word war, that’s maybe not a good thing to do,” Trump said.

“They don’t like the word war because you are supposed to get approval. So I will use the word ‘military operation.’ Which is really what it is. It’s called a military decimation.” A “military operation” is a term, however, not a word.

Trump’s speech on Wednesday also saw him contradict himself.

In the White House on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that Iran had “shot 100 missiles at one of our aircraft carriers, one of the biggest ships in the world, actually.” Iran’s state media released footage it claims showed cruise missiles fired in the direction of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.

Speaking during Wednesday’s NRCC dinner, Trump backtracked on his original reveal of the target of the attack.

“You know, we had an attack, 100 missiles were shot by Iran at a very important thing that we had—I won’t tell you what it was, for certain reasons—100 missiles going 2,000 miles an hour were coming at this element of importance. Tremendous power and importance.”

The Daily Beast has contacted U.S. Central Command for comment.

Trump’s confusing comments about negotiating with Iran will fuel concerns about the war, which shows no sign of ending.

Sources told CNN the delay was being caused by the gap between the demands of the U.S. and Iran. “The very basics must be agreed on before the two sides board and take off for negotiations,” one source said.

It follows the U.S. using Pakistan to convey a 15-point list of demands to Iran, including having no nuclear weapons. Iran’s counterproposal included recognition of the nation’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.