Joe Kent, who resigned earlier this week as head of the National Counterterrorism Center, sat for an interview with Tucker Carlson Wednesday, where he argued that U.S. involvement in the current conflict with Iran was driven largely by Israel. 

“The Israelis drove the decision to take this action,” he told Carlson, adding, “Which we knew would set off a series of events, meaning the Iranians would retaliate.” 

Clips of the interview were circulated on social media soon after it was published, according to The Hill. Kent had been a close aide to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. 

He also told Carlson that there was no “imminent threat” from Iran. “That just simply did not exist,” Kent told Carlson.

President Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday blasted Kent after he resigned and released a letter. 

Karoline Leavitt called Kent’s comments about the decision to attack Iran “insulting and laughable.”

“I read his statement. I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security," Trump told reporters in the White House Tuesday. "I didn’t know him well, but I thought he seemed like a pretty nice guy.” 

“It’s a good thing he’s out, because he said that Iran was not a threat.”

“Iran was a threat. Every country realized what a threat Iran was. The question is whether or not they wanted to do something about it,” Trump continued.