Joe Kent, Former Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, stated that Iran had not been close to creating nuclear weapons, SİA informs.
During a conversation with American journalist Tucker Carlson, the former official of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence emphasized that Tehran was not on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons either when the US launched its large‑scale Epic Fury military operation or before American armed forces carried out a series of strikes on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities in June 2025.
He resigned demonstratively from his post because he fundamentally disagreed with the military campaign against Iran.
Kent explained that Iran had not been on the threshold of nuclear weapons development three weeks earlier when events began, nor in June. He noted that Iranians were bound by a religious decree – a fatwa – prohibiting the development of nuclear weapons.
The former official also stressed that Washington could have influenced Israel and prevented the attack against Iran, which ultimately dragged the US into the Middle East conflict.
He pointed out that Israel had been the driving force behind the decision to carry out the military operation, which inevitably triggered a chain of events leading to Iran's response. Kent added that the US had several possible courses of action and could have simply told Israel not to proceed, warning that otherwise certain support would be withheld.
He considered it normal for the US to provide Israel with defense capabilities, but argued that if Washington supplied such means, it had the right to dictate conditions regarding the timing of an attack.
Earlier, journalist Shelby Talcott of the Semafor portal reported, citing sources, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had launched an investigation against Joe Kent.
She wrote on X that the FBI was investigating Kent in connection with a possible leak of classified information.
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