While Tuesday evening’s abrupt U.S.-Iran ceasefire was seemingly negotiated in part thanks to help from Pakistan, critics have pointed to a weird discrepancy as proof that something fishy is going on.
At 3:16 pm Tuesday afternoon, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted a tweet begging the American and Iranian governments to agree to a ceasefire.
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…
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 7, 2026
“To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks,” he wrote. “Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open the 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,” he added.
The tweet wound up becoming the opening salvo in what would eventually turn into a two-week ceasefire deal. But looking back at the tweet, critics say there was a fundamental problem.
It turns out the tweet was edited at least once, and that the original version of the tweet contained an extra line at the top that read as follows: “*Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X*“:
Critics say these few words give the appearance that the tweet was first written by somebody else and then forwarded to the Pakistani PM for him to tweet out to the world.
As further proof, critics note that the tweet referred to the Paki PM as “Pakistan’s PM.”
“Now, obviously, Sharif’s own staff don’t call him ‘Pakistan’s PM,’ they would just call him prime minister,” left-winger Ryan Grim argued in a tweet of his own. “The U.S. and Israel, of course, would call him ‘Pakistan’s PM.'”
The suggestion was that either the U.S. or Israeli government had written the tweet for Sharif.
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
It’s a big, big, big accusation because, as noted by Bloomberg, Sharif’s tweet “set the stage for Trump’s announcement just hours later that he would pause fighting following talks with Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful military chief.”
In addition, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later praised Sharif and Munir for their roles in mediating talks between the U.S. and Iran.
“On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I express gratitude and appreciation for my dear brothers HE Prime Minister of Pakistan Sharif and HE Field Marshal Munir for their tireless efforts to end the war in the region,” he said in a statement.
Statement on behalf of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran: pic.twitter.com/cEtBNCLnWT
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 7, 2026
The BBC further noted that Pakistan has been involved in this conflict from pretty early on, as per its close relationship with both the U.S. and Iran.
“Pakistan has acted as an intermediary between Iran and the US over the last few weeks, passing messages between the two,” the network reported. “It has a historic relationship with Iran, a shared border, and regularly refers to its ‘brotherly’ relationship with the country.”
“As for the US relationship, President Trump has referred to the head of Pakistan’s armed forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, as his ‘favourite’ Field Marshal and said that he knows Iran ‘better than most,'” the report continued.
According to NDTV, Vice President JD Vance also played a pivotal role during negotiations by essentially playing “good cop, bad cop” with President Donald Trump.
“Increasingly aggressive rhetoric by Donald Trump – calling Iranians ‘crazy ba****ds’ and his ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ posts – overlaid a behind-the-scenes role for JD Vance, which included talks with Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif … to convince [Iranian ruler] Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to stand down,” the network reported.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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