TEHRAN- Pope Leo expressed frustration Thursday that U.S. and Iranian leaders have not been able to get the diplomatic efforts to end the war back on track.

“One day Iran says 'yes,' the United States says 'no,' and vice versa,” Leo told reporters on the flight back to the Vatican after an 11-day pastoral visit to Africa. “We don’t know where this is going to lead, which has created again this chaotic situation, critical for the world economy.”

In the meantime, Leo told reporters, “there is also the entire population of Iran, of innocent people who are suffering because of this war.”

Leo has drawn Trump’s ire by forcefully advocating for an end to the war with Iran. That public spat has overshadowed his pontifical tour of four African countries, which ended Thursday with a Mass for thousands of people in Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea.