The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has resigned over the US war in Iran, citing that Iran posed no imminent threat to the US and the war was initiated under pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.
Kent, a retired Green Beret and longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, stated that he cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,” Joe Kent said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday. “It is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
The National Counterterrorism Center oversees U.S. government intelligence on terrorist threats and retains a database of all known and suspected terrorists.
Kent worked under Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence and the two were political allies.
Gabbard has kept a low profile since the war started and has previously criticized U.S. military interventions abroad.
Kent wrote in a letter to Trump posted on X that he supported the president’s values during his first term. But he said Trump had been wrongly swayed by the Israelis and he could not 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.”
Kent served in the Army Special Forces, undertaking 11 combat deployments during a 20-year career, and later worked at the CIA. His wife, Shannon Kent, a Navy cryptologist, died in a terrorist bombing in Syria in 2019.
According to reports, the resignation caught many intelligence officials off guard and has exposed internal divisions over the justification for the war and the role of allied influence in U.S. foreign policy.
Meanwhile, the war continues to escalate across the Middle East, with rising casualties, regional instability, and mounting global concern over its broader implications.
Kent’s departure is likely to intensify both domestic and international scrutiny of the conflict—and could signal further dissent within the U.S. government in the days ahead.
