Joe Kent resigned Tuesday as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, saying he could not support the ongoing U.S. war against Iran and blaming the conflict on Israeli pressure.
“After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today,” Kent wrote in a post on X. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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.”
Kent, a decorated Army Special Forces veteran and former congressional candidate backed by President Trump in 2022, was confirmed as NCTC director in July. His abrupt departure marks the highest-profile resignation within the national security apparatus since the Iran conflict began.
The National Counterterrorism Center serves as the federal government’s primary hub for analyzing and coordinating intelligence on terrorism threats. Its director oversees assessments that inform presidential decision-making on national security.
Kent wrote in a letter attached to his post that “members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran.” He stated that this “echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory.” Such a belief was a “lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women.”
His exit raises immediate questions about continuity at the NCTC during an active armed conflict. The center coordinates threat analysis across 17 intelligence community agencies. A vacancy at the director level while U.S. forces are engaged in combat operations against Iran represents a significant gap in leadership at one of the government’s most sensitive posts.
