Top US official resigns, says cannot support Trump over with Iran war

Joseph Kent, the director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), resigned on 17 March in protest against Donald Trump administration's war with Iran. In his resignation letter, which he posted on X, Kent stated that he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran" and asserted that Iran posed no "imminent threat" to the United States.

He further claimed that the decision to start the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby, rather than legitimate threats from Iran.

He is the first major Trump administration official to have resigned because of the war in Iran.

In his letter, he claimed that President Trump knew until June 2025 that the wars in the Middle East only robbed the US of lives and exhausted the nation's wealth. He said that senior Israeli officials and "influential members" of the US media, through a "misinformation campaign", promoted pro-war rhetoric in a deliberate bid to encourage war with Iran. 

Kent asserted that an "echo chamber" was used to mislead the President into believing that Iran constituted an immediate threat to the US, that he should attack the Islamic Republic and that victory could be quick and clear.

Kent also drew parallels between the current conflict and the 2003 Iraq wWar, alleging a pattern of deception. Kent stated that Israeli officials used a "misinformation campaign" to draw the US into the "disastrous Iraq war" and were now using the same tactics to push for war with Iran.

He urged Trump to rethink his decision to support the war and said that he can either pave a new way forward for the US or push the nation further into chaos.

"I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards," he wrote.

(With inputs from agencies)