How Pakistan took disinfo drive to a new level with fake alerts on US-Iran talks

Even though it was clear that Iran wouldn't be participating in the peace talks with the US, the Pakistani military's mouthpiece, ISPR, kept feeding false reports to journalists. The blatant disinformation, meant to project Pakistan as a peacemaker, might end up destroying any remaining Iranian trust in Islamabad's mediation efforts.

For weeks, Pakistan's establishment has pushed for a "peacemaker" role, pretending to broker peace between the US and Iran, while doing Washington's bidding. While the Iranian delegates didn't want to meet their American counterparts, Pakistan's civilian-military hybrid regime drummed up anticipation through fake alerts and updates. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media and PR wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces, played a crucial role in spreading disinformation, trapping even an international news agency.

Islamabad did host at least one round of talks between the two sides, but it yielded no breakthrough. That round of talks was directed by US President Donald Trump in an attempt to extricate himself from the catch-22 situation. With the Iranian side playing hardball, the second round of talks were always in doubt. But how could it let go of the diplomatic relevance it had achieved with the moderator ruse so easily? Pakistan kept playacting and its military establishment under the leadership of Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, ramped up its disinformation campaign to project progress where none existed.

It all started with an update from the ISPR on Friday (April 24).

"Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad tonight with a small delegation, according to government sources. Following important discussions with the Pakistani mediation team, a second round of Islamabad peace talks between the United States and Iran is expected, government sources say. A US logistics and security team is already present in Islamabad to facilitate the negotiation process."

This message was sent out to journalists and media outlets, including an international wire service, which released a report based on the input.

PAKISTAN'S DISINFORMATION ON PEACE TALKS RESTARTING

It is true that Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Aragchi was headed to Pakistan. His arrival coincided with an announcement from the US that envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were also flying to Islamabad on Saturday for peace talks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday, that US Vice President JD Vance was on standby to head to Pakistan should negotiations proceed favourably.

However, Aragchi's intention to go to Pakistan was not for face-to-face talks with US delegates. Tehran projected his travel to Pakistan as part of his three-nation trip.

According to a report in the US news outlet Politico, Aragchi's Pakistan trip was part of a broader trip to Oman’s capital of Muscat and to Moscow to "consult on regional developments".

How do we know that Iran had no intention of talking with US delegates? On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei wrote on X that, "We arrive in Islamabad, Pakistan, for an official visit. FM Araghchi will be meeting with Pakistani high-level officials in concert with their ongoing mediation and good offices for ending American imposed war of aggression and the restitution of peace in our region."

Importantly he had also written, "No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US. Iran's observations would be conveyed to Pakistan."

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was reported by Reuters, citing Iranian media, as telling Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by phone that Tehran would not enter "imposed negotiations" under threats or blockade. For context, the US Navy has imposed a complete blockade on all Iranian shipping to and from the Starit of Hormuz despite Washington having an indefinite ceasefire with Pakistan.

In any case, according to the Politico report, Aragchi met Pakistani officials in Islamabad for about two hours on Saturday, but he left the country well ahead of the expected arrival of US envoys Witkoff and Kushner.

While CNN, citing Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), reported that Aragchi would be back in Islamabad on Sunday night, it won't be for talks with US delegates.

Because President Trump had scrapped the visit by Witkoff and Kushner. He was later quoted by CNN as telling reporters on Saturday that, "We're not going to spend 15 hours in airplanes all the time going back and forth to be giving a document that was not good enough, and so we’ll deal by telephone, and they can call us anytime they want."

HOW PAKISTAN SPREAD FAKE NEWS ON US-IRAN TALKS

So, we know that Iranian leaders told the Pakistanis they had no intention of meeting US delegates until and unless certain conditions (like the lifting of the US blockade of Iranian shipping) are met.

In fact, the only reason Aragchi was in the country was to communicate Tehran's concerns, which they expected Islamabad, in their role as the mediator, to pass onto Washington DC.

That, however, did not stop Pakistan's ISPR from peddling the lie to the rest of the world that talks between Iran and the US were about to start. What is even more unfortunate is several news outlets had taken that claim at face value.

For instance, on Saturday, Reuters, citing Pakistani sources, reported that, "Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the US."

As journalist Ryan Grim wrote on X, "It was never true that Aragchi had any plans to re-enter negotiations last week. Why would the Pakistanis say otherwise?"

"The erroneous news reports indicating that the US and Iran would be restarting talks were produced because Pakistan's ISPR sent the following incorrect update to many journalists. (They didn't send it directly to me, but I was forwarded it.)," Grim, an independent journalist, posted on X, detailing the message that several journalists and outlets, including Reuters, based their reports on.

"Perhaps because the Pakistani junta has been lying about every single thing since these 'negotiations' began? And even about the premises that established the negotiations ("Trump has agreed to the Ten Points" etc etc). Remarkable that any journalist would fall for their nonsense," wrote political sociologist David Miller on X.

PAKISTAN ISPR'S LEGACY OF PEDDLING DISINFORMATION

That the Pakistani military establishment, under General Asim Munir's command, through its media wing, the ISPR, has nurtured the art of peddling abject disinformation is well known.

For instance, following India's aerial strikes on terror camps under Operation Sindoor, Pakistan launched a widespread disinformation campaign in an attempt to regain control of the narrative through digital manipulation and unverified claims. This campaign saw state-affiliated accounts resorting to recycling outdated images, misrepresenting old videos, and pushing baseless claims. The ISPR and its Director General, General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the son of a terrorist, were at the forefront of the disinformation campaign against India.

But, it seems that Pakistan has now pushed its disinformation peddling to new heights in its attempts to claim the peacemaker tag. It falsely claimed that Iranian and US delegates would meet face to face in Islamabad on Saturday despite Tehran having explicitly mentioned that they have no intention of doing so.

And in order to keep up the ruse of peace talks, authorities effectively put the capital, Islamabad, and the country's military nerve centre, Rawalpindi, under lockdown for talks that they knew would not happen, prohibiting commercial traffic and restricting business activities, causing significant suffering to ordinary Pakistani citizens in the twin cities.

Ironically, this disinformation campaign is making it harder for Pakistan to claim the peacemaker tag. As Erik Sperling, executive director of the US-based think tank, Just Foreign Policy, wrote on X, "it is very hard to imagine Iran trusting Pakistan to 'mediate' talks again. This is exactly the type of 'continuous media hype (leaks and rumours) from the Pakistani side' that should make Iran refuse to conduct any further diplomacy in Islamabad."

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, meanwhile, posted on X on Sunday arguing that Pakistan lacks the credibility required to mediate between Tehran and Washington. He wrote that while Pakistan was a "good friend and neighbour", it "is not a suitable intermediary for negotiations". According to Rezaei, Pakistan "always takes Trump's interests into account and do not say a word against the Americans' wishes."

The peddling of fake news by ISPR hasn't just exposed Pakistan as Trump's lapdog, it has also brought its status as the so-called mediator in question. Iran will find it very difficult to trust Pakistan again.

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