President Donald Trump has dismissed the resignation of Joseph Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, after the senior security official quit in protest over America’s role in the war with Iran.

Kent stepped down after what he described as “deep personal reflection,” saying he could no longer support a conflict he believes does not serve US national interests. As head of the NCTC, he oversaw the integration and analysis of terrorism-related intelligence across federal agencies, placing him at the core of Washington’s counterterrorism apparatus.

In a sharply worded resignation statement, Kent argued that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States and claimed the war was driven by outside pressure rather than clear security needs. He accused Israel and its American supporters of pushing Washington toward confrontation, saying the conflict was launched under the influence of “a powerful American lobby.”

Kent warned that policymakers had been drawn into an “echo chamber” of misleading intelligence and media narratives that portrayed Iran as an immediate danger and promised a quick, decisive victory. He likened the build-up to the run-up to the Iraq invasion, calling it “the same tactic used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war.”

Trump, speaking in a televised interview, welcomed Kent’s departure and questioned his judgment. The president said he had always viewed Kent as “weak on security” and argued that any official who believed Iran was not a threat should not be in such a critical role.

Kent, a veteran of 11 combat deployments, cited personal losses from previous wars and said he could not support sending “the next generation to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people.” He urged Trump to reassess the rationale for the campaign and to return to what he described as the president’s earlier instinct to avoid “never-ending wars.”

His resignation is the first open break by a senior national security official over the Iran conflict and has intensified scrutiny of the administration’s strategy. Democratic lawmakers have seized on the move to renew calls for Congress to assert its constitutional authority over war powers and to push for limits on US military operations in the Middle East.