previous Donald Trump Aide Joe Kent, who recently resigned as director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, made strong claims about Iran’s nuclear program, saying Tehran was nowhere near becoming a nuclear power.Kent also said former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack, had been “moderating their nuclear program” and said Israel had no reason to involve the United States in the war.His resignation comes as the conflict in Iran continues, a key part of Trump’s aggressive strategy against Tehran. Meanwhile, the FBI has launched an investigation into Kent’s alleged unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
No intelligence on major Iranian attacks
In his first interview since leaving office, Kent dismissed reports that Iran was planning a large-scale attack on the United States similar to the 9/11 attacks or Pearl Harbor.“There’s no intelligence that says, hey, whatever day it is, March 1st, the Iranians are going to launch this massive sneak attack, they’re going to do some kind of 9/11, Pearl Harbor, whatever. They’re going to attack one of our bases. There’s no intelligence,” Kent said on the Tucker Carlson Podcast.His comments contrasted with repeated statements by Trump and the White House, which cited an “imminent threat” from Iran as justification for the attack.
Khamenei ‘moderates’ nuclear program
Joe Kent further pointed out that Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli attack last month, had been moderating the country’s nuclear program.“I don’t like former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but he is moderating their nuclear program. He is preventing them from getting nuclear weapons,” he warned. “If you get rid of him, if you kill him aggressively, people will rally around this regime.”When Tucker Carlson asked if Iran was on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon, Kent responded: “No, there isn’t,” adding that Iran’s strategy is “not to completely abandon its nuclear program.”
Blaming Israel for its role in the conflict
Kent also claimed that Israel effectively drew the United States into the conflict and exerted broad influence over U.S. policy in the Middle East.He pointed to comments by Marco Rubio, who earlier argued that Iran posed an imminent threat because the United States believed that Israel was preparing to launch an attack and that Iran would retaliate. Kent called that reasoning flawed and said there was no indication Iran would launch an attack without provocation.“So the imminent threat that the secretary of state describes is not from Iran. It’s from Israel,” Carlson asked.“Exactly,” Kent replied. “I think this goes to the broader question of who is responsible for our Middle East policy.”Resignations and FBI investigationKent, who has previously been criticized for alleged ties to far-right figures including white nationalists and Nazi sympathizers, focused his resignation letter on Israel. Some Republicans have accused him of promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.Meanwhile, the FBI has opened an investigation into Kent on charges of unauthorized disclosure of classified information, according to a person familiar with the matter. The investigation has been underway for months and continues after Kent announced his resignation on Tuesday in protest of the U.S. war with Iran.In his resignation letter posted on X, Kent said he could not support “letting the next generation fight and die in a war that does no good for the American people.” He argued that Iran did not pose an imminent threat and accused Israel of misleading the U.S. government into the conflict that began with a February 28 attack by the United States and Israel.
US response
Speaking in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump rejected Kent’s assessment, saying he had long disagreed with him. Trump reiterated that Iran “is a threat” and added that Kent’s ouster would be “a good thing.”
