A social media post by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is going viral for an unusual reason. The message, shared on X on Tuesday, urged US President Donald Trump to give Iran more time for diplomacy and extend his deadline. It also called on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, blocked since Feb. 28.
However, what caught the attention of social media users was the edit history of the post. Many users spotted “Draft – Pakistan's PM Message on X” in the edit section. This has raised speculation that the post may have been pre-written or guided externally.
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Here is Sharif's full 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 the 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 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.”
As the post went viral, many theories spread online. Some users speculated about potential US involvement, while others believed it could be a simple mistake.
“Pakistan's Prime Minister copy-pasted the tweet along with the instructions. He forgot to remove the part that said: “Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X”. If the Prime Minister of Pakistan can't even post a tweet properly, how will he run the country?” a user questioned on X.
Echoing a similar sentiment, another comment read: “Copy-paste instruction follower. You are Pakistan's dumbest puppet of the USA.”
“Look at Shahbaz Sharif, how happy he is after posting on X the message that Trump told him to post,” said another user.
Sharif's post came as Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The decision came just hours before his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, Trump had warned of severe consequences, saying “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if a favourable deal was not reached.
"This will be a double-sided CEASEFIRE!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive agreement concerning long-term PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” he said.
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Sharif, who helped mediate the ceasefire, said in a post on X that he had invited Iranian and US delegations to meet in Islamabad on Friday.
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