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 why.
US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will suspend attacks on Iran for two weeks. The decision, according to his statement, came after talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir. The ceasefire is also related to Iran agreeing to the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Read also | Has Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz? Here’s what we know
Trump says US forces have already achieved their military objectives and negotiations are moving forward. He also revealed that Iran shares the 10-point proposal, which Washington sees as a workable basis for talks. The two-week break is expected to allow time to finalize a wider deal.
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack on Iran for two weeks. It will be a bilateral ceasefire!” says Trump’s official White House statement.
“The reason is that we have already met and exceeded all military objectives and we are very far from a definitive agreement on long-term peace with Iran and peace in the Middle East,” Trump added.
Meanwhile, Sharif posted on X. Pakistan’s prime minister says Iran, the United States and their allies have agreed to an immediate ceasefire in multiple areas, including Lebanon.
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He also invited both sides to Islamabad on April 10 for further negotiations. He called the proposed meeting “Islamabad Talks”.
“It is with the greatest humility that I am pleased to inform you that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including in Lebanon and elsewhere, with IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVENESS. Prime Minister Sharif boasted ‘with the greatest humility.’
I warmly welcome the far-sighted gesture and express my deepest gratitude to the leadership of both countries
I heartily welcome the far-sighted gesture and express my deepest gratitude to the leadership of both countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday 10 April 2026 to further negotiate a final agreement to settle all disputes. he added.
However, there seems 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 proposed a broader and immediate ceasefire across several regions “with immediate effect.”
Reaction on social networks
Social media users have reacted strongly to Sharif’s otherwise seemingly innocuous and positive statement.
“American puppet and publicity stunt. The war itself wouldn’t have happened if Imran Khan was still PM. Selling your country, absolutely disgusting,” wrote one.
Another user noted: “When ‘Broker Nation’ is also ‘Broke Nation,’ you know the diplomatic bar has hit the ground running.”
“Many analysts believe that the only reason this is happening is because Trump has realized that Pakistan is the only ‘broker’ cheap enough to work on commission,” said another.
“He stopped being Prime Minister and started acting like the world’s most enthusiastic broker, one week no oil money, the next week hosting ‘Islamabad Talks’ like he’s running a peace startup,” another user commented.
Read also | US-Iran ceasefire: Tehran says it ‘forced’ US to accept its ’10-point plan’
“As Pakistan brokers US-Iran peace deal, solve your own domestic problems first, your entire nation is on the brink of collapse,” another user commented.
“Another ‘Draft’ that looks like it came straight from the chat window. Great for peace but let’s be honest who is writing this here. Tell them who wrote it,” another user wrote, referring to an earlier controversy on social media over Sharif’s post.
‘design’ series by Shehbaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharif is currently facing trolling on social media. The meme war started over the “Draft” tag in the edit history of his X post about the Iran-US war.
The post, shared on April 7, asked Donald Trump to grant a two-week extension for diplomacy on the Iran conflict. However, eagle-eyed users noticed that the earlier version was titled “Draft – Pakistan Prime Minister’s Message on X”.
This small detail has raised big questions on the internet. Many users claimed that the wording suggested that the message could have been a prepared template rather than Sharif’s own words.
Naturally, social media had a field day. Memes flooded timelines.
