A senior US counterterrorism official has resigned in dramatic protest over the escalating Iran conflict, laying bare deep fractures within Donald Trump's administration and intensifying an already volatile political moment.
Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), confirmed his resignation in a public letter posted on X on 17 March 2026, citing fundamental opposition to the administration's war policy. His departure marks the first high-level resignation tied directly to the ongoing US military campaign against Iran.
