Pakistan is facing a diplomatic embarrassment after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif deleted an earlier post on X that announced Pakistan would host an official United States–Iran signing ceremony in Switzerland on June 19, 2026.
The original post claimed a major diplomatic breakthrough, but it was later reposted with the paragraph about Pakistan hosting the event removed.
The reversal came after Iran publicly clarified that the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran had already been signed digitally. Iranian officials stated that there would be no physical signing ceremony in Switzerland.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei explained that while meetings between negotiating teams in Geneva were planned, the agreement itself had already been signed electronically. He confirmed that both sides had finalised and signed the memorandum, and no official ceremony would be held in Switzerland.
Did Pakistan wrongly announce Switzerland signing ceremony?
In his earlier June 15 post, Shehbaz Sharif had said that Pakistan, with support from Qatar as co-mediator, would host an official signing ceremony in Switzerland on June 19. He described it as a landmark diplomatic moment and said mediators would facilitate discussions leading to technical-level talks and the signing process.
Why did Shehbaz Sharif delete his post?
Following Iran’s clarification, the claim about Pakistan hosting the ceremony was removed from Sharif’s updated post. The revised version still mentioned his role as mediator endorsing the agreement, but it no longer included any reference to a Switzerland-based event.
What did Iran say about the agreement?
Iran firmly stated that the memorandum had been signed digitally and that no ceremonial signing event would take place in Switzerland. This statement directly contradicted Pakistan’s earlier public claim and changed the narrative around the agreement’s finalization.
First published on: Jun 18, 2026 02:04 PM IST
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