Today at 08.39
Trump's anti-terror chief resigned in protest – now he speaks: Khamenei slowed down Iran's nuclear program
It caused quite a stir when the head of the US National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCC), Joe Kent,
handed in a very public resignation on Tuesday.
"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war against Iran," Kent wrote in a post on X.
Now the former counter-terrorism chief has given his first interview after his resignation.
He has that for conservative podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Here he says that Iran's now killed supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had kept the Iranian nuclear program in check until his death.
"I'm not a fan of the former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, but he moderated their nuclear program. He prevented them from getting a nuclear weapon," Kent said.
"If you take him out, if you kill him aggressively, the people will rally around that regime. And the next ayatollah you get - and what I think from all the data we have is the case with his son - the next ayatollah will be more radical. For he will show the people that he will resist."
Asked by Tucker Carlson if Iran was on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon, the now former counterterrorism chief answers no.
The clip can be seen at the top of the live blog.
Context:
Joe Kent wrote in his resignation letter, which he shared on X, that he is resigning from his post with immediate effect because he cannot support the war against Iran.
"Iran posed no immediate threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war because of pressure from Israel and its powerful U.S. lobby."
And later:
"I cannot support sending the next generation to fight and die in a war that serves no purpose to the American people or justifies the loss of American lives."
According
to Berlingske's US correspondent, Jacob Heinel Jensen, Kent's resignation underlines that Donald Trump has moved into risky waters on the home front with the decision to go to war:
It "emphasizes that the president is walking on thin ice because he just ran for office to pull the United States out of foreign wars. But Trump has done the exact opposite, and that is problematic for the president."
Krigen mellem USA, Israel og Iran fortsætter. Følg udviklingen her.
www.berlingske.dk