White House slammed the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent’s resignation over US attack on Iran.
According to Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on "false claims" in the resignation letter of the nation’s top counterterrorism official, saying President Donald Trump had "strong and compelling evidence" that Iran was going to attack the United States first.
Joe Kent wrote on X, "After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today."
Kent said he could not in "good conscience" support the ongoing war with Iran, claiming that "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."
The resignation letter sparked backlash from Trump administration who called his claims “false.”
Leavitt responded, "There are many false claims in this letter but let me address one specifically: that ‘Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation. This is the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over."
"As President Trump has clearly and explicitly stated, he had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first. This evidence was compiled from many sources and factors," she added.
Leavitt told press that President Trump would never made the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum.
The press secretary alleged Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, claiming that Tehran was aggressively expanding their short-range ballistic missiles to combine with their naval assets to give themselves immunity.
She also slammed the "absurd allegation that President Trump made this decision based on the influence of others, even foreign countries," calling Kent’s claim "insulting and laughable."
US and Israel launched attack on Iran on February 28, killing its then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking retaliatory strikes from Tehran.
