White House was directly involved in shaping Pakistan PM's social media post on Iran: Report

New York: The White House was “directly involved” in shaping a social media post by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in which he “earnestly” requested US President Donald Trump to extend his April 7 deadline on Iran for two weeks, according to a media report.

The New York Times said the “White House was directly involved in shaping the message” that was shared on X on Tuesday by Sharif in which wrote "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 near future”.

“To allow diplomacy to run its course, I earnestly request President Trump to extend the deadline for two weeks,” he said.

Sharif also requested Iran 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,” he added.

The US and Iran agreed to a two-week conditional ceasefire on Wednesday, followed by a face-to-face meeting in Islamabad to settle the differences and convert the ongoing truce into a lasting peace.

Describing it as a “last-ditch public plea”, the NYT report said Trump’s 8 pm 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,” it said, noting that Sharif had tagged Trump and other top advisers in his post.

NYT said Sharif adopted “Trumpian parlance” when he wrote the post Tuesday afternoon.

But behind the scenes, the White House had already seen and signed off on the statement before Sharif posted it, the NYT report said, citing a person briefed on the communication.

“And it showed that the White House — even as Mr. 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 on Tuesday,” the report said.

The NYT report further said a White House official denied that Trump wrote the statement, a speculation that arose when social media users pointed out that Sharif had initially posted the statement with the header: “*Draft - Pakistan’s PM Message on X*”.

At 8:06 am (local time) on April 7, Trump had threatened in a post on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”.

“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” Trump had said.