US counterterrorism director Kent resigns over Iran war

The director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, announced his resignation on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.

Kent cited his concerns about the justification for military strikes in Iran, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the conflict.

He made this known via a letter addressed to United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

The director stated: “After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

“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.

“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.”

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In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said he always thought Kent was “weak on security” and if someone in his administration did not believe Iran was a threat, “we don’t want those people.”

“They’re not smart people, or they’re not savvy people. Iran was a tremendous threat,” Trump said.

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.

Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.

As head of the National Counterterrorism Center, he was in charge of an agency tasked with analysing and detecting terrorist threats.

The leadership change at one of the nation’s top counterterrorism offices comes at a time of heightened concern about terrorism in the homeland following recent attacks at a Michigan synagogue and a Virginia university.

The Star