Joe Kent, one of the United States’ top counterterrorism officials, announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing his opposition to the Iran war and what he said was Israel’s influence over the Trump administration’s policies. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, wrote in a social media post. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Kent’s resignation highlights the deep divisions among Trump’s Republican supporters over the Iran war, now in its third week. His argument that Israel forced the US into the war against Iran is shared by many on the right but denied by Trump.

Source: The Irish Times March 18, 2026 05:58 UTC