Donald Trump has been rocked by the resignation of his top counterintelligence official as the chaos around his war in Iran explodes. Joseph Kent, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said Iran posed no imminent threat and the war was started “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby”.
He added: “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war.” The resignation comes weeks after the US and Israel carried out a joint missile attack on Iran killing its supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Since then, Iran has been retilating by carrying out attacks on several middle-eastern countries including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait. Mr Kent, who works under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, accused the President of abandoning the non‑interventionist principles he campaigned on.
In his resignation letter, he wrote: “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.
“In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS.
“As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.
“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.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the UN’s food agency said this war could push millions more into acute hunger. If the conflict continues, the World Food Programme warns 45 million more people could be affected, with 319 million already struggling with hunger.
WFP deputy executive director Carl Skau said: “This would take global hunger levels to an all-time record. And it’s a terrible, terrible prospect.”
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