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From critic to negotiator: JD Vance to spearhead US efforts in Iran ceasefire talks

It was a war JD Vance never wanted. Now the United States vice president has been tasked with ending it. Vance headed to Pakistan today with orders from President Donald Trump to turn the shaky Iran ceasefire into a lasting peace deal. For the 41-year-old Vance, who has kept a notably low profile during the Middle East conflict, it will be one of the biggest moments of his career. But the man widely regarded as a leading contender in the 2028 US presidential election will face huge challenges too when talks begin Saturday in Islamabad. “I cannot think of a case where the vice president ran formal negotiations like this,” Aaron Wolf Mannes, a lecturer at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and an expert on the American vice presidency’s role in foreign policy, told AFP. “This is high risk, high reward.” Vance built his political brand as an avowed anti-interventionist who wanted to keep America out of any more foreign wars, such as in Iraq, where he ser...
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Fact check: Viral video of Shashi Tharoor criticising Indian PM Modi over Pakistan’s role in US-Iran ceasefire is doctored

Multiple people, including journalists and pro-military accounts, shared a video on social media platform X on Wednesday, that allegedly showed Indian politician Shashi Tharoor criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Pakistan’s role in the US-Iran ceasefire. However, the video is dubbed over through AI. Backchannel diplomatic efforts by Pakistan paid off, as the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 8, 2026, after weeks of escalating hostilities triggered by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, which quickly spiralled into a wider regional conflict. Pakistan emerged as a central diplomatic actor in securing the ceasefire between the US and Iran, actively facilitating communication between the two sides at a critical stage of the conflict. The effort resulted in a two-week ceasefire, with Pakistan positioning itself as a host for further negotiations. Amid the development, many Indian social media users and citizens were seen criticising the government for its absence in the negotiations and questioning the foreign policy of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) government. How it started On Wednesday, an account on X, that usually shares AI-generated videos, shared an alleged video of Tharoor with the following caption: “Breaking: Shashi Tharoor rips apart the Modi Government. If you saw Donald Trump’s latest tweet crediting Pakistan with stepping in to end the Iranian war, you know why I am standing here in shock. It feels like a massive strategic failure by the Indian government.” The post gained 161,100 views. The transcript of the video is provided below: “If you saw Donald Trump’s latest tweet crediting Pakistan with stepping in to end the Iranian war, you know why I am in shock. It feels like a massive strategic failure by the Indian government. I have never criticised Prime Minister Modi or the BJP before, but today, silence is just blind loyalty. The harsh reality is that Pakistan is taking centre stage, rebranding itself as a global net stability provider. Meanwhile, India is bleeding diplomatic capital and rapidly losing its influence on the world stage. And what is our country focused on? The entire nation is distracted, cheering for movies like Durandhar 2. We are celebrating cinematic fantasies while losing in the real world. I’m speaking out today because we can no longer afford to be distracted while the global order shifts against us.” Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon also shared the same clip on X with the caption, “Indian media is in the stage of mourning to see the global peace and role of Pakistan.” His post gained over 10,000 views. Senior journalist Kamran Khan also shared the video on X, captioning it: “The great Indian debacle: Pakistan wins global respect.” The post gained 183,400 views. More accounts, that appear to be pro-military based on their past posts, also shared the same viral video, as can be seen here and here. The same video was also shared by other accounts on X, as can be seen here, here, here, here and here, collectively gaining 59,401 views. Methodology  A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in Pakistan’s role in brokering the ceasefire between the US and Iran, along with the Indian reaction to the development. Inspecting the video revealed several visual and audio discrepancies: Tharoor’s tone and delivery in the viral clip were inconsistent with his normal way of speech and appeared robotic, with unnatural pacing, abrupt pauses and awkward emphasis on certain words. At the six-second mark of the viral clip, Tharoor’s jaw appears slightly distorted, and the wire of his headphone momentarily disconnects from the left side. A reverse image search was subsequently conducted to trace the source of the viral clip and yielded a video uploaded on the official website of India Today on December 26, 2025, titled: “Shashi Tharoor: ’No BJP or Congress foreign policy, only Indian national interest.’” The video thus predated the current events. The doctored video was clipped from the 9:24-minute mark of the original footage. A review of the footage showed that Tharoor discussed issues such as Bangladesh, the impact of US tariffs on India’s economy and the aftermath of the May 2025 conflict with Pakistan. He also emphasised the need for a bipartisan approach to India’s foreign policy to navigate complex relationships with global powers. Comparing the original and the viral videos showed that Tharoor’s teeth aren’t perfectly aligned in real life, but they appeared straight and smooth throughout the viral clip. Running the video through AI-forensic tools showed that Sora AI video detector flagged it as 33.3 per cent AI-generated, suggesting that the content may have been altered or synthetically manipulated. Meanwhile, Hive Detect labelled the audio as 51pc AI-generated speech. Lastly, a keyword search was conducted to corroborate whether any credible Indian or international media outlets had reported such remarks made by Tharoor, but yielded no results. Instead, Tharoor himself addressed the matter in a post on his X account. He wrote with the caption: “There are an alarming number of deepfake videos circulating of me, with convincing-sounding AI-generated voice-overs over genuine footage of old interviews, having “me” saying things I have never said. Disappointed that so many on social media are believing these lies and issuing baseless comments attacking me for purported views that I have not expressed. One simple rule of thumb: if a statement (video or otherwise) doesn’t appear on my timeline nor on that of the purported interviewer/media source, it’s fake news. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” There are an alarming number of deepfake videos circulating of me, with convincing-sounding AI generated voice-overs over genuine footage of old interviews, having “me” saying things I have never said. Disappointed that so many on social media are believing these lies and issuing… — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 9, 2026 Furthermore, the investigation showed that the account that had originally shared Tharoor’s doctored video had also shared similar videos of Indian journalists Ravish Kumar and Palki Sharma, criticising Modi over Pakistan’s role. However, those videos are from November 2025 and also predate current events. Fact-check status: False The claim that a viral video shows Shashi Tharoor criticising PM Modi while praising Pakistan for its role in the US-Iran ceasefire is false. The video is doctored and has been dubbed over through AI. This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.

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