Pakistan PM accused of copy-pasting US's message on Iran war
What's the story
An error in a social media post by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has revealed a potentially embarrassing truth about the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran. The draft of a post by Sharif was revealed online on X (formerly Twitter) before President Donald Trump confirmed a ceasefire with Iran. In the post, he requested President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks.
Ceasefire request
Original post requested 2-week ceasefire extension
"To allow diplomacy to run its course...Pakistan, in all sincerity, requests the Iranian brothers to open Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture," he wrote. However, social media users quickly shifted their attention to the tweet's "edit history." A click on the option showed what appears to be an earlier version of the post with an additional line: "Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X."
Twitter Post
Check out original tweet here
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:
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) April 7, 2026
"*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
Ceasefire announcement
Trump's 2-week ceasefire announcement
The post was soon edited and the line mentioning it was a draft was removed. This led to speculation that Sharif might have copied and pasted a message from Trump's team without realizing it. Reporter Ryan Grim of independent news account Drop Site suggested that Sharif "originally copied and pasted everything he was sent," pointing out that his staff would not call him "Pakistan's PM."
Authorship speculation
Speculation about who wrote Sharif's post
Another user wrote, "Looks like Trump wants to TACO but doesn't want to look like he initiated it. So he drafted this message for Pakistan's PM to deliver...but somebody left the 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X' in." After this tweet, Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday, saying he would suspend bombing and attacks for two weeks after talks with Sharif and Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir.