Iran’s president keeps gardening through awkward moment at Islamabad ceremony

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian drew attention online after he kept digging and tending soil during a traditional sapling-planting ceremony at Pakistan’s prime minister’s residence in Islamabad. The event took place during his official visit to Pakistan, where he was received in a formal ceremony.

According to official footage from the site, Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif placed the sapling in the ground together, but the Iranian leader then continued working the soil with a hoe. He remained bent over the ground for a long time, carefully digging, hoeing and arranging the earth around the young tree.

Sharif, noticing that the ceremony was running past schedule, tried several gentle gestures to indicate that the task was finished and that the political program could continue. Pezeshkian, however, insisted on finishing the job, which prompted laughter from diplomats and journalists present.

The incident came during Pezeshkian’s official trip to Pakistan amid expanded political talks between Tehran and Washington. He was in the country to discuss boosting trade ties and joint energy projects, and to thank the Islamabad leadership for its key role in mediating recent international diplomatic contacts.