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Top US counterterrorism official resigns over Iran war, urging Trump to 'reverse course'
The Trump administration's top official on counterterrorism has resigned over the war in Iran, and has urged the president to "reverse course".
In a letter posted to his X account, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said that Iran posed "no imminent threat" to the US and claimed that the 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 bombing in Syria in 2019.
The White House has dismissed the letter saying Trump had "compelling evidence" that Iran was going to attack the US first.
Middle East war live: US counterterrorism chief quits over Iran war
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US National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent resigns over Iran war
Kent, who advised Trump and national intelligence director on ‘terror’ threats, says Iran ‘posed no imminent threat’.
The director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, which advises both US President Donald Trump and the director of national intelligence on “terror” threats, has resigned over the war with Iran.
In a resignation letter posted on X, Joe Kent said he could not “in good conscience” support the ongoing war.
“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,” he said.
He pointed to Trump’s past pledges to end US engagement abroad, writing, “you understood that wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the previous lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation”.
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