Former director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has accused the United States and Israel of eliminating key Iranian figures who had been restraining Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Killing the supreme leader, I think, was twofold. I mean basically, it killed the guy that was restraining the nuclear program,” Kent said on a YouTube podcast hosted by US journalist Scott Horton on Thursday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the joint US-Israeli military operation on February 28.
Now, if Iran does indeed possess nuclear materials needed to build a nuclear bomb, it may make one, because “we killed the one restrainer,” Kent argued.
“Actually, we killed several of the restrainers. I say ‘we.’ I mean, between the Israelis and US, we will all be blamed for it,” he added.
Kent announced his resignation from his post as US President Donald Trump’s counterterrorism chief on Tuesday, citing his disagreement with the US operation against Iran.
He said that Washington was drawn into the conflict within Iran through a disinformation campaign mounted by senior Israeli officials.
The United States and Israel launched a “preemptive” attack on Iran on Feb 28. Iran responded by striking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East.
