'Iran Posed No Imminent Threat': US Counterterrorism Director Joe Kent Resigns, Slams Israel For 'Misinformation'

New Delhi: Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in the US, announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his concerns about the justification for his country's attack on Iran and saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war.

Kent said on social media that 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 his resignation letter addressed to US President Trump, Kent said as a veteran deployed to combat 11 times and as a husband who lost his wife Shannon Kent "in a war manufactured by Israel", he cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and "die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives".

"I support the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020, 2024, which you enacted in your first term. 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," Kent wrote in the letter.

"Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your 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," he said.

"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."

Kent, a former political candidate, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote. As head of the National Counterterrorism Center, he was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats.

His resignation reflects unease within Trump’s base about the war and shows that questions about the justification for the use of force in Iran extend to the right of President Donald Trump's base and to senior members of the administration.

A spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not immediately respond to questions by Associated Press about Kent's resignation. The White House also had no immediate comment on Kent's resignation.

Read More:

Iran Security Chief Ali Larijani Killed By Israel In Overnight Strike, Says Benjamin Netanyahu In Video Statement