ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Joe Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, resigned Tuesday in protest of the ongoing war with Iran, claiming Washington entered the conflict under “pressure from Israel.”

Kent became the first senior official in the Trump administration to resign over the war. He was appointed to his position in early February 2025.

“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 said in his resignation letter. 

Praising Trump’s role in his first administration until June 2025, when the Israel-Iran war erupted, Kent said, “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 June, Israel killed top brass Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists with airstrikes, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran, with the two trading salvos of missiles and drones for 12 days. The US also bombed the key Natanz and Fordow nuclear sites in the country near the end of the conflict.

Kent claimed that early in the administration, top Israeli officials and influential Americans pushed the narrative that Iran posed an “imminent threat” and urged Washington to “strike now” and go to war, a tactic he called “a lie” and likened to the pressure that drew the United States into the Iraq War, costing thousands of American lives, he said.

“We cannot make this mistake again,” he stressed.

The US and Israel launched an offensive against Iran in late February, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials.

Amid its retaliatory strikes targeting 12 regional countries, Iran has expanded its attacks from US diplomatic missions and airports housing an American military presence to hotels, neighborhoods, and other civilian infrastructure, claiming US personnel and intelligence are using them as hiding spots.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly claimed that the US was dragged into the war by Israel.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt denied Kent’s claims in a post on X, saying, “There are many false claims in this letter.”

“As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first,” she added.

“Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” Leavitt said, adding that the regime has killed Americans, waged war against the United States and openly threatened the country.