Pakistan criticized President Donald Trump for targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, despite having praised him less than 24 hours earlier for defusing tensions with India and suggesting he merited a Nobel Peace Prize.
On Saturday, the Pakistani government lauded Trump for his 鈥渄ecisive diplomatic intervention鈥 and 鈥減ivotal leadership鈥 in mediating peace between India and Pakistan. This intervention followed a massacre of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in April, which had escalated the threat of war between the two nuclear-armed nations. The conflict saw both sides attacking each other until intense diplomatic efforts, largely led by the U.S., resulted in a ceasefire.
However, the following day, Pakistan denounced U.S. military action against Iran as a 鈥渟erious violation of international law鈥 and contrary to the principles of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a phone call Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressed his concern that the bombings had targeted facilities that were under the safeguards of the IAEA, the Associated Press reported. Pakistan has close ties with Iran and supports its attacks on Israel, saying it has the right to self-defense.
鈥淭rump is good for Pakistan,鈥 he told Reuters. 鈥淚f this panders to Trump鈥檚 ego, so be it. All the European leaders have been sucking up to him big time.鈥
There was no immediate comment on Monday from Islamabad about the Trump Nobel recommendation, which also followed a high-profile White House lunch meeting between the president and Pakistan鈥檚 powerful army chief, Asim Munir.
Thursday鈥檚 meeting, which lasted more than two hours, was also attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Representative for Middle Eastern Affairs.
According to a Pakistani military statement, a detailed exchange of views took place on the 鈥減revailing tensions between Iran and Israel, with both leaders emphasizing the importance of the resolution of the conflict.鈥
Trump, meanwhile, was supposed to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-7 summit in Canada. Trump returned to Washington early for a Situation Room meeting on the Israel-Iran war.
A week before Trump announced the U.S. strikes on three key Iranian nuclear facilities, the president said in a social media post that Israel and Iran should and will make a deal, 鈥渏ust like I got India and Pakistan to make, in that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP!鈥
An Israeli official previously made the distinction to Fox News Digital, however, that the goal of the Ayatollah and the Muslim Brotherhood is not trade with the United States, but rather the 鈥渄estruction鈥 of America and Israel. The same official advocated for a regime change in Iran 鈥 something Trump said is not the objective of the United States.
Trump on Friday had lamented on TRUTH Social that he would not get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the war between India and Pakistan, the war between Serbia and Kosovo or for 鈥渒eeping Peace between Egypt and Ethiopia.鈥
鈥淣o, I won鈥檛 get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that鈥檚 all that matters to me!鈥 Trump said.