Top US counterterrorism official resigns over Iran war, urge Trump to 'reverse course'

Joe Kent, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned from his position, citing opposition to the war in Iran and urging President Trump to "reverse course," according to a letter posted on his X account on Tuesday. Kent, a 45-year-old US special forces and CIA veteran, claimed that Iran posed "no imminent threat" to the US and that the Trump administration "started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby." The BBC has contacted the White House for comment on Kent's resignation.

In his resignation letter, Kent stated he had previously supported Trump's foreign policy platform but now believes "high-ranking Israeli officials" and US journalists sowed "misinformation" that deceived Trump into believing Iran posed an imminent threat. Kent, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress twice, was nominated by President Trump early in his administration and narrowly confirmed to his post, despite criticism from Democrats regarding his links to extremist groups, including members of the Proud Boys. During his confirmation hearing, Kent refused to back away from claims that federal agents had fomented the January 6 riots at the US Capitol or that Trump had won the 2020 election.

At the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent reported to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and oversaw the analysis and detection of potential terrorist threats. Previously, Kent had deployed 11 times overseas with the US military, including with the US Army’s special forces in Iraq, and later became a paramilitary officer at the CIA. Kent cited his military service and the death of his wife, navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, who was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019, as reasons why 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."