Top US counterterrorism official resigns over Iran war and urges Trump to ‘reverse course’
Bernd Debusmann Jrat the White House
The Trump administration’s top official on counterterrorism has resigned from his position, citing opposition to the war in Iran, and urged the president to “reverse course”.
In a letter posted on X, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said that Iran posed “no imminent threat” to the US and claimed that the Trump administration “started this war due to pressure from Israel” and its powerful American lobby.
Kent, 45, is a US special forces and CIA veteran whose wife, navy cryptologic technician Shannon Kent, was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.
The BBC has contacted the White House for comment on Kent’s resignation.
Additionally, Kent alleged that “high-ranking Israeli officials” and influential US journalists had sowed “misinformation” that caused Trump to undermine his “America First” platform.
“This echo was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posted an imminent threat to the United States,” the letter continued. “This was a lie.”
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