Head of US Counterterrorism Center resigns over refusal to wage war on Iran

The head of the US National Counterterrorism Center (NTTC) Joe Kent announced his resignation on Tuesday for rejecting the ongoing war on Iran.

This is the first resignation of a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.

In a post on X, Kent said: “After deep thought, I’ve decided to resign from my position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today”.

“I cannot with a clear conscience support the war in Iran… Iran posed no direct threat to our nation, and it’s clear that we started this war because of pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobbyists”.

Addressing Trump, Kent said in the attached resignation letter: “I support the foreign values and policies that you promoted in your 2016, 2020 and 2024 campaigns, which you implemented during your first term until June 2025”.

“You knew that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the lives of its dear heroes, and drained our nation’s wealth and prosperity,” he added.

“In your first term (2017-2021), you understood more than any contemporary president how to use military force decisively without dragging us into endless wars. I proved this by killing [Iranian Quds Force commander] Qassem Soleimani (in 2020) and defeating ISIS”.

But at the beginning of this administration (January 2025), senior Israeli officials and influential figures in the US media launched a disinformation campaign that completely undermined the ‘America First’ slogan and spread pro-war sentiment to encourage it to wage war with Iran”.

“I’ve used this vicious circle to deceive you and give you the illusion that Iran poses an imminent threat to the United States, and that if an attack is launched now, there will be a clear path to a quick victory”.

“This was a lie, and it’s the same tactic that the Israelis used to drag us into the disastrous Iraq war (2003), which cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women… We can’t repeat this mistake”.

“As a veteran, I’ve participated in combat 11 times… I cannot support sending the next generation to fight and die in a war that doesn’t benefit the American people and doesn’t justify sacrificing American lives”.

Kent concluded by calling on Trump to reconsider his Iran policy, adding, “You can change course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slide further into deterioration and chaos”.

As of 2:55 p.m. ET, the White House hadn’t commented on the resignation of Kent, who took office in July and was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats.

Prior to joining the Trump administration, Kent served in the military, where he served 11 missions as a Special Forces soldier and then worked for the CIA.

Trump gave conflicting reasons for the war, including claiming that Iran was close to producing nuclear weapons and dismissing accusations that Israel had forced the United States to act.

The US-Israeli aggression against Iran has resulted in the death of at least 1,332 people, including 202 children, 223 women and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in addition to more than 15,000 wounded and widespread destruction.

Tehran has responded by firing rockets and drones toward Israel, killing at least 14 people and wounding 3,369, in addition to other attacks that have killed and injured US military personnel.

It also launches attacks on what it says are US bases and interests in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Iraq and Jordan, but some of them have killed and wounded and damaged civilian objects, which the targeted Arab countries have condemned, calling for an end to the attacks.

Iran is being subjected to aggression despite making progress in negotiations with the United States on the nuclear program with the testimony of the Omani mediator, and this is the second time that Israel has turned on the negotiating table, and in the first the June 2025 war began.

Washington and Tel Aviv accuse Tehran of possessing nuclear and missile programs that threaten Israel and regional US-friendly countries, while Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and doesn’t seek to produce nuclear weapons.

Israel is the only country in the region that possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons, which isn’t officially declared and isn’t subject to international control, and it occupies Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from them and establish an independent Palestinian state.