Vice President JD Vance has alleged that elements within the Israeli government financed a covert influence operation aimed at derailing US-Iran negotiations and keeping the military conflict with Tehran “going on indefinitely.” Speaking on a podcast released on Wednesday, Vance cited a recent US magazine investigation that, he said, detailed how individuals linked to a former Trump campaign official were paid by “certain elements within the Israeli government” to attack him personally and to turn American public opinion against the diplomatic track. “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there have been people within the Israeli government who are trying to actually shift us away from that policy because they want to continue the military campaign,” Vance said, adding that the objective was not any defined goal but simply an open-ended war.

Viewed from Washington, the vice-president’s intervention is the sharpest public articulation of an internal administration debate. Vance, who led the US negotiating team, defended the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran last month, which critics in both countries argue fails to curb Iran’s missile programme or provide a path to dismantle its nuclear facilities while constraining Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. He insisted that President Donald Trump would have launched military action against Iran regardless of Israeli influence, driven by the conviction that Tehran must not acquire a nuclear weapon. The US, Vance said, is now combining economic pressure with incentives and talking to “more pragmatic” elements inside the Iranian leadership, though he acknowledged the process would be “very complicated” and marked by advances and setbacks. He also argued that bombing alone cannot secure the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran could still threaten shipping, making negotiations essential.

Israeli officials, speaking anonymously, have described the deal’s terms as bad for Israel because they leave unaddressed concerns over Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes — a view they say is shared across the country’s leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to Vance’s accusations, but the premier had earlier rejected the vice-president’s suggestion that the United States was Israel’s only major ally, pointing to India. Israeli security sources, cited in regional reporting, have expressed concern that the Trump administration is losing its determination to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities and is instead shifting its focus to securing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. One Israeli columnist wrote after the deal was made public that Trump had “reneged on every promise” and delivered Israel “a kick and humiliation.”

From Tehran, the foreign ministry has stated that Iran suspended parts of its commitments in response to what it calls Washington’s failure to uphold its own obligations, and that it currently has “no agenda for negotiations,” concentrating entirely on defence. Iran has also announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz until what it terms US interference in the region ends. The US military has carried out multiple waves of strikes on Iran since 8 July, and President Trump has declared that Washington will act as the “guardian” of the strait while reimposing a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The public breach between the two traditional allies now extends to the Republican Party’s internal dynamics, where Vance’s stance risks alienating pro-Israel donors ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid. No formal talks are scheduled, and the Israeli government has yet to issue an official response to the vice-president’s allegations.