Top US counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigns over Iran war
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
The director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has announced his resignation, saying he “ cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Kent, who posted his resignation on X, said 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.”
The resignation is the highest-profile rebuke yet of the war effort from a Trump administration insider and staunch support of the MAGA movement. The conflict is roiling some of Trump’s most high-profile MAGA supporters, like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, even though rank-and-file Republicans largely back the President.
Trump said in response to the news it was a “good thing” Kent resigned over his objections to the war with Iran, deriding him as “very weak on security.”
A spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not immediately respond to questions about the resignation of Kent, who, before entering Trump’s administration, ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state.
He also served in the military, seeing 11 deployments as a Green Beret, followed by work at the CIA.
Democrats strongly opposed Kent’s confirmation, pointing to his past promotion of conspiracy theories and ties to far-right figures including Graham Jorgensen, a member of the far-right military group the Proud Boys, and Joey Gibson, the founder of the Christian nationalist group Patriot Prayer. Democrats also grilled Kent on his participation in a group chat on Signal that was used by Trump’s national security team to discuss sensitive military plans.
He was nevertheless confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.
War update
The war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, more than 880 in Lebanon and 12 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The US military says 13 U.S. service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.
In Lebanon, more than a million people are displaced, and about 100,000 people, mostly Syrians, have fled into Syria, where it is expected 250,000 refugees might soon need food and medicine, authorities have said.
The World Food Program says the Middle East conflict is upending its supply chains like rarely before and could push 45 million more people into acute hunger if the war lasts through June. That would be up from 319 million today.
Israel kills top Iranian security official
Israeli defence minister said overnight the Israeli military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike.
The Israeli military also announced it killed Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.
Iranian state media did not immediately confirm either death. However, it said a message from Larijani’s office would be published shortly.
The killings again strip away top leaders from the Iranian theocracy after the Feb. 28 strike that killed 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.