After Resignation, Joe Kent Says, ‘Iran Was Nowhere Near Nuclear Weapon’

Last Updated:March 19, 2026, 08:13 IST

Joe Kent, ex-counterterrorism chief under Trump, resigned over Iran conflict concerns. In an interview, he criticised Israel's role and disputed Iran's nuclear threat claims.

Joe Kent, former counterterrorism chief under US President Donald Trump, has spoken out about the ongoing conflict involving Iran, a day after stepping down from his role. He stated that his resignation was linked to his concerns over the war and shared strong views on how the situation unfolded, also adding that Iran was not close to making nuclear weapon.

In an interview with right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson, Kent discussed his decision to leave the post and criticised Israel’s role in the conflict. He suggested that Israel’s actions played a key part in triggering the current escalation.

“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 told Tucker Carlson on Wednesday.

He also said that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared confident it could initiate military action, expecting the United States to step in. According to Kent, Israel “felt emboldened" and believed the US would “just have to react."

Kent strongly disagreed with claims made by Trump and senior officials that Iran posed an immediate nuclear threat. Trump had recently said that Iran was only two weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon, calling it a key reason behind the February 28 strikes.

Responding to this, Kent said, “That just simply did not exist."

“No. They weren’t three weeks ago when this started, and they weren’t in June either," he added, referring to earlier US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025.

Kent further argued that there has been no intelligence suggesting Iran violated its long-standing religious decree against nuclear weapons. He said that since 2004, Iran’s leadership has followed a fatwa prohibiting the development of such weapons.

“We had no intelligence to indicate that fatwa was being disobeyed," Kent said, describing Iran’s approach as “actually pretty pragmatic."

He also commented on the reported assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying it may have had the opposite effect of what was intended. According to Kent, the move strengthened hardline elements within Iran rather than weakening the regime.

“I don’t think the Ayatollah feared dying. Not because he’s some crazy lunatic, but because he knew if he were killed, the regime would survive," he said.

News world After Resignation, Joe Kent Says, ‘Iran Was Nowhere Near Nuclear Weapon’

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