Joseph Kent, US head of the National Counterterrorism Centre, resigned on Tuesday, becoming the first and most senior member of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to resign over the war in Iran, saying Tehran posed no imminent threat to the United States.
Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Kent said on social media 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.”
“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 lobby,” Joseph Kent wrote in a letter to Trump posted on X.
Kent is close with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has kept a low profile since the Iran war began. Gabbard has not issued any public statements and has only appeared in public during the dignified transfer of American soldiers killed earlier this month during the conflict with Iran.
