'Iran was NOT close to building a nuclear weapon': Kent's MASSIVE claims after resignation — Trump lied to Americans for Israel?

Former United States counterterrorism chief Joe Kent has said the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been “moderating” Islamic Republic's nuclear program ahead of his death. Speaking to former Fox News host and conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson in his first interview since his resignation, Kent said that he is not a fan of late Khamenei but he was the one preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Though he agreed that Iran was not going to give up its nuclear programme, he said that they weren't at the verge of getting a nuclear weapon either.

“I’m no fan of the former supreme leader, you know, Ali Khamenei, however, he was moderating their nuclear program. He was preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon. If you take him out, if you kill him aggressively, people are going to rally around that regime." Asked if Iran was on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon, Kent replied, “No, they weren’t.

The latest comments by counterterrorism chief Joe Kent comes after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, an ally of Trump, said that US intelligence has assessed that Iran was not rebuilding its nuclear enrichment capabilities following their destruction during a joint US-Israeli strike in June 2025. She presented the findings in written testimony for the annual threat assessment to the Senate Intelligence Committee. However, she did not mention this conclusion during her spoken remarks to lawmakers.

It must be noted that when Ali Khamenei was killed, and Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen as his successor, a report by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy suggested that he is more favorable toward developing nuclear weapons than his father. He wrote that if Mojtaba becomes leader, he and the IRGC might decide Iran should move quickly to obtain nuclear weapons to deter future US-Israeli attacks. He could adopt a more aggressive stance on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Kent is a US military veteran, ex-CIA officer who resigned as counterterror chief last week over Iran war claiming that the US started the war due to “pressure from Israel.” we started this war due to pressure from Israel. He was serving under Tulsi Gabbard since eight months in the Trump administration. In his resignation letter, Kent had wrote, “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran... Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Kent's comments about the Iran war comes at the backdrop of Trump administration's attempts to contain the fallout following his resignation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that Kent ‘was not involved in any discussions related to the Iran operation’, distancing him from key decision-making. Additionally, a report by the New York Post quoted former deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich claiming that Kent had been linked to security leaks and conflicts within the chain of command, suggesting his exit may not have been voluntary.

Since the beginning of the war, Iran has maintained that the US started the war on behalf of Israel. However, Donald Trump said that it was the US that dragged Israel into the war. Trump administration has been issuing contradictory claims on the reasons to begin the war. Marco Rubio, Trump's Secretary of State on Mar 3 said that America attacked Iran “preemptively” after knowing about Israel's plans. “Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions…We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," Rubio said. However, he backtracked from his statements later. Additionally, the US administration has also been confused about its goal in the war and its endgame plans.

(Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, US, Gulf nations and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos and videos.)