The US has publicly humiliated Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The White House on Thursday (IST) confirmed that it had prior knowledge of the social media post proposing the ceasefire deal between Iran and the US.
The New York Times on Thursday reported that while President Donald Trump had not drafted the post himself.
According to the NYT, the White House had already seen and signed off on the post before Shehbaz Sharif posted it on his X handle.
The report claimed that White House reviewed the post and approved it before it was published. In the post, the Pakistani PM had urged Trump to extend his 8 p.m. Iran deadline by two weeks.
Trump later announced the two-week ceasefire and praised Shehbaz Sharif and Asim Munir for mediating between Tehran and Washington.
The message was posted on X with a header “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X.” Social media users started to question the post, saying the Pakistan PM was being ordered by the US to share the message on his X handle.
Pakistan’s involvement as a mediator did not come from its diplomatic prowess but with a belief that Iran was more “likely to accept the US-backed offer if it was delivered by a Muslim-majority neighbour state,” as per the report.
The blunder from Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif on a social media post, in a rush to claim credit, also exposed limited say over the deal.
Sharif, who framed the deal as Pakistan’s initiative, mistakenly included a subject line at the top of his post: “draft — Pakistan’s PM message on X”
Oh, this is unbelievable. The edit history on this tweet shows that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif originally copied and pasted everything he was sent, including:
“*Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X*”
Now, obviously, Sharif’s own staff don’t call him “Pakistan’s PM,”… https://t.co/q0ls8pK0qd pic.twitter.com/lm2vSEElkb
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) April 7, 2026
Pakistan attempted to present itself as a peacemaker between the US and Iran, but the new details from a Financial Times report suggest that it was rather pushed by White House to broker the temporary ceasefire with Iran.
The report poses serious questions about Pakistan’s independent diplomatic stance as it suggests that Islamabad was not a neutral broker but rather a convenient channel for the US to push the temporary ceasefire deal.
Financial Times, citing the people familiar with the talks, reported that the US leaned on Pakistan to present Washington’s proposal to Iran, making the country a mere messenger between the two sides rather than having an active neutral participation.
Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, who was the first one to suggest a two-week ceasefire in public, was reduced to a spectator with Army chief Asim Munir playing a central role, holding urgent discussions with US officials, including Donald Trump, JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff.
Pakistan’s attempt to cast itself as a neutral player also came under threat when a drone attack hit the Saudi petrochemical hub of Jubail, a Financial Times report revealed. Islamabad had signed a mutual defence pact with Riyadh last year. Pakistan still stayed neutral, allowing it to engage in diplomatic efforts.
Pakistan PM has also stated that Lebanon was included in the ceasefire, but Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu both have dismissed this statement, allowing Israel to continue its military operations against Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic engagement between the US and Iran is set to take place in Islamabad this weekend, where both sides will hold direct talks aimed at ending weeks of intense hostilities following the outbreak of war.
The meeting follows an immediate ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran for two weeks after weeks of conflict in the region.
The US delegation will be led by Vice President JD Vance, and the Iranian delegation will be led by Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
This comes after Trump suspended the “bombing and attack” campaign on Iran, announcing a two-week double-sided ceasefire and saying that the 10-point proposal from Iran was workable. (ANI)
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
