‘Draft’ label in Sharif’s post fuels speculation over who wrote message to Trump

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif faced controversy after a “draft” label appeared in his social media post urging Donald Trump to delay action on Iran, sparking speculation over authorship and possible external involvement in messaging.

Washington: A social media post by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urging US President Donald Trump to delay military action against Iran triggered a storm of controversy after users spotted what appeared to be a drafting error suggesting external authorship.

The controversy centres on Sharif’s post on X, where he appealed for a two-week extension to allow diplomacy in the West Asia conflict. Shortly after it was published, users circulated screenshots of the post’s edit history showing it initially carried the line: “Draft – Pakistan’s PM Message on X.”

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According to a report by The Daily Beast, the draft label appeared to have been inadvertently included in the original post before being removed in a subsequent edit.

The outlet reported that the episode “exposes” that the Pakistani prime minister appeared to “cut and paste” the message, fuelling speculation about who authored the text.

The issue gained traction online after journalists and commentators pointed to the phrasing of the draft. Ryan Grim of Drop Site suggested the message was “likely not written by Sharif,” noting that his own staff would not refer to him as “Pakistan’s PM.”

Social media users also highlighted that the post tagged multiple senior US officials, including Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adding to speculation about coordination.

A report by Forbes said the message faced “extra scrutiny” after “an early draft of his plea appeared written by an entity outside of Pakistan.”

The controversy comes at a sensitive moment. Trump cited Sharif’s request as part of his justification for pausing planned strikes on Iran for two weeks.

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif… I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump said in a social media post earlier.

Sharif’s final version of the post called for diplomacy to “run its course” and urged Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as a “goodwill gesture,” while appealing for a ceasefire to “achieve conclusive termination of war.”

The Daily Beast report noted that Sharif later issued a revised statement with the draft reference removed, and that his office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Online speculation quickly escalated, with some users suggesting the wording may have been provided by US officials. Others cautioned that the incident could simply reflect a clerical or staff error.

The controversy has drawn attention because of its timing. The post came just hours before Trump’s deadline for Iran to reach a deal, and as Pakistan positioned itself as an intermediary in the crisis.