Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator between the United States and Iran, but when the country was enjoying its new title of global peacemaker its prime minister Shehbaz Sharif got caught in an unexpected embarrassment for posting a message titled “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X” on social media. The stray “draft” tag set off a wave of speculation, with many online users suggesting that Trump or his team may have drafted the message themselves.
Now, a person briefed on the matter confirmed to the The New York Times that the White House had seen and signed off on the statement before Sharif posted it on X. The post has since been edited.
Was Trump’s team involved in drafting the Pakistan PM’s post?
According to the New York Times, the White House had already reviewed and approved the social media statement that Sharif later posted on X. The report added to the perception that Trump was searching for an off-ramp from the Iran crisis, despite having set an 8 pm ET Tuesday deadline himself.
That ultimatum threatened devastating strikes on Iran, Trump had earlier warned that “a whole civilization will die”, unless Tehran reopened the Strait of Hormuz and agreed to a deal. Roughly an hour and a half before the deadline expired, Trump announced a two-week pause on planned strikes, citing conversations with Sharif and Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Despite online speculation that Trump himself scripted Sharif’s post, a White House official has denied that the US president wrote the statement, the NYT reported.
What did Shehbaz Sharif’s post say?
The original text of the post read: “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X. Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future.
“To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks. Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture. We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war, in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region.”
Sharif’s post tagged Trump, US Vice President JD Vance, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the Office of the US Special Presidential Envoy for Peace Missions (@SEPeaceMissions). It also tagged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The “draft” version remained visible in the post’s edit history on X.
The revised version read: “Diplomatic efforts for peaceful settlement of the ongoing war in the Middle East are progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully with the potential to lead to substantive results in near future. To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks.
“Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture. We also urge all warring parties to observe a ceasefire everywhere for two weeks to allow diplomacy to achieve conclusive termination of war, in the interest of long-term peace and stability in the region.”