The United States President Donald Trump said he was surprised to hear that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Iranian General Qassem Soleimani a “martyr”.

The head of Iran’s elite Quds military force and one of the most feared figures in the Islamic Republic was killed early Friday in a U.S. air strike in Baghdad.

The Iranian Embassy in Turkey tweeted on Sunday that Erdogan, in a phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, said: “The absence of martyr Soleimani is deeply upsetting. Iranian people, I am aware of your and Ali Khamenei’s anger”.

A day later, however, TRT World reported that Turkish president had not referred to the slain Iranian general as a martyr during the phone call, citing an anonymous Turkish official. The Turkish government denied the report with an anonymous official, instead of the very active presidential spokespeople.

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