Trump’s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent blames Israel for warfare with Iran and claims Tehran was not on verge of getting nukes | EUROtoday

President Donald Trump’s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent has blamed Israel for the warfare in Iran and said that Tehran was not on the verge of creating a nuclear weapon.

“The Israelis drove the decision to take this action, which we knew would set off a series of events, meaning the Iranians would retaliate,” Kent, who resigned because the director of the National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday, instructed Tucker Carlson on Wednesday.

“The Israelis felt emboldened…that they could go ahead and take this action and we would just have to react,” he stated.

He added that the Iranian regime has had a fatwah — or spiritual ruling — in place since 2004 that bars them from creating a nuclear weapon. “We had no intelligence to indicate that fatwah was being disobeyed,” he instructed Carlson.

Kent resigned from the administration over his opposition to “the ongoing war in Iran” in a put up on X that shortly went viral, drawing greater than 93 million views.

“Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation,” Kent stated. “And it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Kent, an Oregon native who spent 20 years within the U.S. Army, stated he supported the insurance policies the president campaigned on however now feels Trump was duped into backing a “disastrous” choice that echoes the Iraq warfare.

“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,” he added.

His departure — which made him the very best‑rating official to step down over the warfare in Iran — reportedly caught Trump’s advisers off guard. But it was swiftly dismissed as inconsequential by the White House.

On Tuesday, Trump instructed reporters that after studying the letter he “realized that it’s a good thing that he’s out.” The subsequent day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to as the episode “laughable” and “insulting” and moved to downplay Kent’s significance.

“It’s been a while since the president has seen him here at the White House,” she stated. “This was an individual who was not involved in any of the discussions pre-operation and throughout this operation.”

At an occasion in Michigan on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance instructed supporters that he is aware of and likes Kent. But, he stated coverage disagreements needs to be put aside as soon as the president has selected a plan of action.

Some in MAGA world, although, have expressed fervent help for Kent.

Former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — who has staunchly opposed the Iran warfare — characterised him as a “GREAT AMERICAN HERO.”

Kent’s resignation comes because the warfare in Iran — launched collectively by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 — has now stretched into its third week. The battle has engulfed the broader Middle East area, with strikes reported in Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

At least 1,200 Iranian civilians have died, and greater than 10,000 have been injured, in response to the nation’s well being officers. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed, and greater than 140 have been wounded, the Pentagon has stated.

The warfare — which reveals no indicators of abating — has additionally sparked fears of worldwide financial upheaval, as tanker visitors by the Strait of Hormuz has floor to a halt, pushing oil costs above the $100‑a‑barrel mark a number of occasions in latest weeks.

Recent polls point out that extra Americans oppose the battle in Iran than help it.

Fifty-three % of voters are in opposition to the U.S. navy motion in opposition to the Middle East nation, whereas 40 % help it, in response to a Quinnipiac survey launched on March 9.