US President Donald Trump has encountered significant turmoil following the resignation of a senior intelligence official amid escalating tensions regarding the war with Iran.
Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, stepped down after publicly questioning the justification for the conflict.
Kent stated that Iran posed no imminent threat and claimed the war was initiated due to pressure from Israel and its influential American lobby. He added, “I cannot, in good conscience, support the ongoing war.”
This resignation comes shortly after the United States and Israel conducted a joint strike on Iran, resulting in the death of the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. In retaliation, Iran has launched missile and drone attacks across the Gulf, impacting cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Kuwait City.
Kent, who served under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, accused the president of abandoning the non-interventionist principles on which he campaigned. This has further exacerbated the political turmoil in Washington as the conflict enters its third week.
Joseph Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said Iran posed no imminent threat and the war was started “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.
He added: “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war.” The resignation comes weeks after the US and Israel carried out a joint missile attack on Iran killing its supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Since then, Iran has been retilating by carrying out attacks on several middle-eastern countries including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait. Mr Kent, who works under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, accused the President of abandoning the non‑interventionist principles he campaigned on.
In his resignation letter, he wrote: “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.
In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS.
As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I 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 pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.”
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