Resigned US counterterrorism chief says Iran was not close to developing a nuclear weapon

Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States, the former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center said Wednesday, accusing pro-Israel lobbyists and think tanks of deliberately sabotaging diplomatic efforts by shifting Washington's red line on Tehran's nuclear program.

Joe Kent, a 20-year US Army Special Forces combat veteran and former CIA paramilitary officer before leading the counterterrorism agency, made the remarks in an interview with prominent American conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson a day after stepping down.

At the center of Kent's argument was a deliberate reframing of US policy. He said the original red line preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon left "a lot of trade space" for a negotiated deal, but that benchmark was quietly replaced.

"If your goal is to move us away from any kind of deal, and your goal is to move us into a conflict, you have to shift that red line," he said.

He said the new benchmark, blocking any uranium enrichment, was pushed by Washington think tanks, "pro-Israeli lobbyists" and Israeli government officials, until "enrichment basically became the new US policy," effectively closing the door on diplomacy.

- NO BOMB, NO IMMINENT THREAT

Kent said US intelligence found no evidence that Iran was pursuing an actual weapon. He pointed to a 2004 religious ruling, or fatwa, issued by the Iranian leadership forbidding the development of nuclear arms and said the intelligence community had "no indication" that it was being violated or was about to be lifted.

He added that Iran had deliberately stopped short of weaponization but did not completely abandon its nuclear program, having drawn lessons from the fate of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who gave up his nuclear program and was later ousted and killed.

- ISRAEL'S ROLE

Kent also took direct aim at the war's origins, saying the US launched its strikes not because of any Iranian aggression but because Israel had already decided to act, forcing Washington to move first to shield its own troops from the fallout.

"The Israelis drove the decision," he said, questioning whether the US was truly in control of its own foreign policy.

"Who's in charge of our policy in the Middle East. Who's in charge of when we decided to go to war?" he said.

Kent argued that the US should have threatened to withhold defense aid to stop Israel's offensive, noting that "the Israelis felt emboldened that no matter what they did, no matter what situation they put us in, that they could go ahead and take this action and we would just have to react."

- KENT QUESTIONS CHARLIE KIRK DEATH PROBE

Kent also raised questions about the investigation into right-wing American activist and influencer Charlie Kirk's death, suggesting it was cut short.

He said the killing of Kirk -- one of US President Donald Trump's closest advisers and a vocal opponent of war with Iran who had reportedly advocated for the US to at least rethink its relationship with Israel -- deserved further scrutiny.

"He was suddenly publicly assassinated, and we're not allowed to ask any questions about that," he said.

"There's unanswered questions," he said, adding the probe was stopped before his team could "run down" remaining leads.