Shehbaz Sharif ‘running a peace startup': Amid ‘draft’ row, Pakistan PM gets trolled over post on US-Iran ceasefire

A temporary pause in the US-Iran war appears to be taking shape. Statements from both Washington and Islamabad suggested a short-term ceasefire. Why Islamabad? Here’s the reason.

US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks. According to his statement, the decision came after conversations with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir. The ceasefire is also linked to Iran agreeing to the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump says US forces have already achieved their military objectives and that negotiations were progressing. He has also revealed that Iran shared a 10-point proposal which Washington considers a workable basis for talks. The two-week pause is expected to allow time to finalise a broader agreement.

“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double-sided ceasefire!” says the official White House statement from Trump.

“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 longterm peace with Iran, and peace in the Middle East,” Trump added.

Meanwhile, Sharif has posted on X. The Pakistan PM claims that Iran, the United States and their allies have agreed to an immediate ceasefire across multiple areas, including Lebanon.

He also invited both sides to Islamabad on 10 April for further negotiations. He has called the proposed meeting the “Islamabad Talks”.

“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.” PM Sharif bragged ‘with the greatest humility’.

“

I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.” he added.

However, there appears to be a gap between the two statements. While Trump described only a two-week suspension of attacks tied to specific conditions, Sharif’s message suggested a wider and immediate ceasefire across several regions ‘with immediate effect’.

Also, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has officially confirmed that Lebanon is not a part of the ceasefire deal. That counters Sharif's claim as well.

Social media reaction

Social media users have reacted strongly to Sharif’s statement, which otherwise appears harmless and positive.

“America’s Puppet & Publicity stunt. The war itself wouldn’t have happened if Imran Khan were still the PM. Selling your country, absolutely disgusting,” wrote one of them.

Another user commented, “When the ‘Broker Nation’ is also the ‘Broke Nation’, you know the diplomatic bar has hit the floor.”

“Many analysts believe the only reason this is happening is that Trump realised Pakistan is the only ‘broker’ cheap enough to work on commission,” came from another.

“Stopped being Prime Minister and started acting like the world’s most enthusiastic broker, one week no money for oil, next week hosting 'Islamabad Talks' like he’s running a peace startup,” commented another user.

“How tf Pakistan is brokering a peace deal between US and Iran, First Solve your own domestic problems, your entire nation is on the verge of collapse,” another user commented.

“Another 'Draft' that looks like it came straight from a chat window. Great for peace, but let’s be honest about who’s doing the writing here. Tell them who drafted it,” wrote another user, referring to the earlier social media controversy about Sharif’s post.

Shehbaz Sharif ‘draft’ row

Shehbaz Sharif is currently facing social media trolling. The meme war started over a “Draft” label in the edit history of his X post about the Iran-US war.

The post, shared on 7 April 7, asked Donald Trump to allow a two-week extension for diplomacy over the Iran conflict. However, eagle-eyed users noticed that an earlier version was titled “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X”.

This small detail sparked big questions online. Many users claimed that the wording suggested the message might have been a prepared template rather than Sharif’s own words.

Naturally, social media had a field day. Memes flooded timelines.