President Donald Trump on Monday told CNBC’s Joe Kernen that Iran is in the process of regime change following his latest talks with the country.

Moments before their phone call, Trump revealed in a Truth Social post that he had “productive conversations” with Iranian leadership. As a result of those conversations, the president said, there would be a temporary halt to military strikes on Iranian targets. Operation Epic Fury, the operation that began the war in Iran three weeks ago, killed more than four dozen members of the Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran, however, said “there has been no direct or indirect contact” with Trump and denied his claims that there were talks.

Following the death of the supreme leader, it was announced that Mojtaba Khamenei — Ali’s son —had been chosen to succeed him. The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that Mojtaba was seriously wounded in a strike and that his current status is unknown.

Although Mojtaba’s reign was widely considered a continuation of his father’s, Trump insisted the country was undergoing regime change as a result of the war. Reporting on his call with the president, Kernen said:

“I just spoke to the President. President Trump said the discussions have been very good over the last 48 hours, very intense discussions. I said, ‘Well, with whom?’ I thought, you know, there aren’t a lot of leaders left alive. He said they have representatives. Obviously, that’s been one of the things that Iran has tried to say, that we’ve got a structure more than any one person.

“The President went on to say, or insist, that this is regime change because it’s totally different people that were involved in the last regime. I would imagine some of the people are the same. This is the president’s take on that, insisting that it’s regime change. He went on to say great meetings, great conversations, and hopes that within the next five days something very substantive can be arrived at for the end of hostilities.”

Ahmad Austin, Jr.,  Mediaite