Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adopting Trumpian parlance, said in a post on the social platform X Tuesday afternoon that diplomacy was “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully”. (Photo: New York Times) Written by Tyler Pager and Katie Rogers
It seemed like a last-ditch public plea.
President Donald Trump’s 8 p.m. deadline for Iran was fast approaching, and Pakistan was trying to orchestrate an off-ramp for both sides. So Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to social media.
Sharif, adopting Trumpian parlance, said in a post on the social platform X Tuesday afternoon that diplomacy was “progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully” and that he was requesting that Trump extend the deadline for two weeks. He then tagged Trump and other top advisers.
But behind the scenes, the White House had already seen and signed off on the statement before Sharif posted it, according to a person briefed on the communication, a sign that the diplomatic channels were much more active than the message on social media suggested.
And it showed that the White House — even as Trump was threatening to wipe out Iran’s civilization unless Tehran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — was actively looking for a way out of the crisis as the deadline drew near Tuesday.
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A White House official denied that Trump wrote the statement, as some observers speculated on social media when. Sharif initially posted the statement with the header: “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X”. The Pakistani Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The pitch worked, at least in the short term. Trump announced a few hours later that he was agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
