US counterterror chief says in resignation letter Israel 'deceived' Trump into attacking Iran

US counterterror chief says in resignation letter Israel 'deceived' Trump into attacking Iran Submitted by Sean Mathews on Tue, 03/17/2026 - 14:53 Joseph Kent's resignation is the highest-profile indictment against Israel by a sitting US official in history Joseph Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, testifies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on 11 December 2025 (Saul Loeb/AFP) Off A senior Trump administration official in the directorate of national intelligence has resigned over the war on Iran , saying that the US president was tricked into the conflict by an Israeli and pro-war “echo chamber”. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. 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,” Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in a resignation letter shared on Tuesday.