Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center and a far-right political figure and supporter of Donald Trump, resigned from his position on Tuesday in protest of the war in Iran.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote in a resignation letter posted to X. “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, who worked under the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is a former special forces warrant officer with extensive combat experience. His wife, Shannon Kent, a navy cryptologic technician, was killed in action in 2019 during a suicide bombing in Manbij, Syria.

Kent’s letter lauded Trump’s foreign military actions in his first administration, such as the killing of Qassem Suleimani and “defeating Isis” while avoiding being drawn into “never-ending wars”. But he charged the president with abandoning this posture after an influence campaign.

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