Former head of the US Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent, following his resignation, has continued to publicly deliver sharp criticism of the war with Iran, linking it to political decisions in Washington.
In a two-hour interview with Tucker Carlson, he again stated that Iran was neither now nor earlier this summer on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, even though this argument was used as the formal justification for the US strike.
Kent also suggested that conservative activist Charlie Kirk may have been targeted because of his opposition to the conflict. According to him, shortly before his death, Kirk told him: “Joe—don’t let us get drawn into a war with Iran.”
“And then he was suddenly killed in public, and we were not allowed to ask any questions about it. We were not permitted to continue the investigation. There are questions that remain unanswered. Charlie was under significant pressure from many pro-Israel donors. We know that Charlie spoke to President Trump against this war with Iran,” Kent said on Carlson’s program.
He claims he attempted to advance this version with the FBI, but, according to him, received no response from the agency.
At the same time, a number of Western outlets point to strained relations between Kent and the FBI. According to The New York Times, the conflict began as early as last year, when he sought access to materials from the investigation into Kirk’s killing.
As Axios reports, citing sources, Kent himself has been under FBI investigation in recent months on suspicion of sharing classified information related to Israel and Iran with Tucker Carlson and another conservative podcaster.
Carlson, for his part, sided with Kent on air, saying he is paying the price for his earlier warnings that a war with Iran could lead to catastrophic consequences.