The director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, resigned Tuesday, declaring he could not “in good conscience” support President Donald Trump’s war on Iran, while noting that the conflict was launched without an imminent threat and under pressure from Israel and its lobbying network in Washington.
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.”
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, 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.
Before entering President Donald Trump's administration, Kent ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state. He also served in the military, seeing 11 deployments as a Green Beret, followed by work at the CIA.
