'Iran posed no imminent threat': US counterterror chief Joe Kent quits over Iran war

Joe Kent, director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, said Tuesday he had resigned from his post, citing opposition to the ongoing war with Iran.

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Kent announced the decision in a post on social media, writing: "After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

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Kent also shared a resignation letter expanding on his criticism of the conflict. "After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

In the letter, Kent said he had supported the foreign policy platform on which President Donald Trump campaigned in previous elections. "Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation," he wrote. 

"In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS," the letter said. 

He claimed that high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined Trump's America First platform and "sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran." 

"This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that, should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again," he wrote. 

The resignation comes as the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues to escalate across the Middle East.