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A US puppet? Did Shehbaz Sharif have to get White House approval for X post on Iran ceasefire?

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s post on X requesting Donald Trump for a two-week ceasefire in Iran has gone viral. The initial version of the post included the header – ‘Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X’, sparking speculations that it was probably written by Washington. While the White House may not have drafted the statement, it did give it a go-ahead before Sharif posted it online

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif's post on X urging US President Donald Trump to consider a two-week ceasefire with Iran had gone viral. File Photo/Reuters

FP Explainers|Apr 09, 2026, 12:37:43 IST

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been in the limelight since his post on X, urging United States President Donald Trump to delay his threats to wipe out "a whole civilisation" in Iran, caught attention on Tuesday (April 7). More than his request to Trump to extend the looming deadline by two weeks, what sparked speculations was the line that initially topped this statement: “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X.”

This header was edited out soon after and the final version did not include it. However, by that time, eagle-eyed observers on social media had already noticed the purported faux pas. Rumours circulated online that someone else wrote the message for Sharif, probably the White House itself.

Now, a report claims that the Trump administration was aware of the statement before it was posted on the Pakistani prime minister’s X account.

What did Pakistan PM’s post say?

As Trump’s 8 pm Tuesday deadline (5:30 am IST Wednesday) for Iran to make a deal and open the Strait of Hormuz loomed, Pakistan PM Sharif took to X, saying diplomacy was “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully” and that he was requesting that the US president extend the deadline for two weeks.

He also urged 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,” the post added.

The Pakistan PM tagged several US figures, including Trump, Vice President JD Vance, West Asia Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others, in the post.

Before the statement was edited, it contained the header: “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X.” This phrase soon kicked off various speculations online. Social media users started suggesting that Sharif had been provided the text and only posted the statement on his account.

Reporter Ryan Grim, a founder of Drop Site substack, conjectured that Sharif “originally copied and pasted everything he was sent,” underlining that Sharif’s staff would not refer to him as “Pakistan’s PM.” He suggested that the post could have been written by either the US or Israel.

Some social media users questioned why the initial post indicated it was a draft and referred to Pakistan's prime minister in English. They speculated that the text not written by Pakistani officials.

“It sure looks like the White House wrote this for Pakistan’s PM, who posted it then quickly deleted the top part,” one user said. Another user said that Sharif “copy pasted” a post he did not draft, “but was sent to him by a foreigner - likely Trump’s team.”

What’s the story behind Sharif's X post?

Sharif’s post came before Trump announced the ceasefire on his Truth Social account. Reports say Pakistan was trying hard to negotiate a temporary ceasefire between Washington and Tehran before Trump’s 8 pm deadline.

The Pakistan PM's post on X that gained worldwide attention was already “seen and signed off” by the White House before he uploaded it, a person briefed on the communication told New York Times (NYT).

This showed that even as Trump threatened Iran on Tuesday that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”, the US president was looking for an off-ramp as his deadline drew near.

A White House official, however, denied that the statement shared by Sharif was written by Trump, as some social media users had speculated, as per the NYT report.

A few hours after the Pakistan PM’s post, Trump announced the two-week ceasefire with Iran. “I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.” In his post, the US president claimed that he reached this decision following conversations with Sharif and Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Following Trump's ceasefire announcement, Sharif issued a second statement on the development. “With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” his post read.

The Pakistan PM said he warmly welcomed the “sagacious gesture” and invited delegations from the US and Iran to Islamabad on Friday to “further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.” He said he hoped “to share more good news in coming days.”

While Sharif’s statement mentions that the ceasefire extends to Lebanon, Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on the West Asian country, including in densely packed central Beirut, on Wednesday (April 8).

Israel hit more than 100 targets in just 10 minutes across Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon. According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 254 people had been killed and 890 wounded in Israeli strikes.

Following Israel’s attacks, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. The fragile truce now hangs in the balance. The future of the ceasefire depends on official talks between the US and Iran, which begin on Saturday in Islamabad. The US delegation will be led by Vance, with Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also part of the team.

With inputs from agencies