New Delhi, July 16 -- WASHINGTON - Vice President JD Vance used a Wednesday appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast to accuse members of the Israeli government of running a "literal foreign influence campaign" designed to kill the US-Iran peace deal he had been personally pursuing, becoming the first sitting American official to make such an accusation publicly and without diplomatic hedging.

The accusation arrived the same week a United States military campaign against Iran reached northern cities for the first time since strikes began, and as a tentative interim agreement signed in June continued to fray under the weight of ongoing attacks by both sides. Vance did not frame his remarks as a grievance about a past policy battle. He presente...