Kent says US intel community agreed before war that Iran wasn’t developing nuke

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent claimed in a post on channel X that before the start of the Iran war, US intelligence agreed that the Islamic Republic was not developing nuclear weapons.

“One of the many tragedies of this war was that before the war began, the US Intel Community, including the CIA, agreed that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons and that Iran would target US bases in the region and close the Strait of Hormuz if they were attacked by Israel and the US,” Kent wrote in an article. to mail on Thursday.

“The IC also correctly assessed that targeting the Iranian leadership would strengthen the regime and embolden the radicals. Despite the IC’s professionalism and integrity, the narrative and agenda concocted by a foreign government, Israel, won the debate and forced us into this war,” he continued.

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“We need to fully understand how this happened to make sure we are never in this situation again,” he concluded.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Friday for a response to Kent’s comments.

Kent resigned as director of the National Counterterrorism Center in March.

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An Iranian flag is placed among rubble and rubble next to a collapsed residential building near Ferdowsi square in Tehran on March 3, 2026. (ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” he wrote in his article. resignation letter. “Iran did not pose an imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war under pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

In an April Truth Social post, President Donald Trump harshly criticized the idea that Israel had persuaded him to go to war against Iran.

TRUMP FALLS BACK TO EXPERTS, SAYS ISRAEL IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE IRAN WAR

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Israel never led me to war with Iran; the consequences of October 7 reinforced my lifelong opinion that Iran WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” the president wrote in part of his speech. to mailIt refers to the heinous terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.