A senior US counterterrorism official resigned on Tuesday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the United States.

“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, said in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump.

Kent — a former member of the Green Beret special forces who served multiple combat tours — said: “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Kent is the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration to protest the war against Iran.

“Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation,” Kent said in his letter to Trump.

“Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran,” he said.

“This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory,” he said.

“This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women,” Kent said.

“I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives,” he added.

Chinese state oil majors looking to head off supply shortages caused by the war in the Middle East have resumed seeking Russian crude cargoes after a four-month ​hiatus, taking advantage of a US sanctions waiver, five trade sources said.

Trading arms under state-run ‌Sinopec and PetroChina have this week made inquiries with suppliers for possible purchases of Russian oil, which would be their first since November, said five sources close to or involved in Russian oil trade.

While no deals were known to have ​been struck as of Tuesday, two of the sources said transactions were likely to be imminent ​as Russian oil remains cheap versus rival supplies from Brazil and West Africa despite surging ⁠prices and premiums triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran that began on February 28.

Chinese oil majors ​were “assessing” the situation, said a state oil trader, including whether payment and delivery could be completed within the ​30-day waiver window that began on March 12 and applies to cargoes that had already been loaded.

Sinopec and PetroChina did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

One of the sources, involved in Russian oil trading and familiar with PetroChina’s trading operations, said ​majors could also seek to secure cargoes while the situation is “messy” by buying from Chinese independent refiners or ​traders with Russian-origin oil already in storage.

“Some teapots are ready to resell, as that makes more money for them than ‌processing ⁠at their plants,” said the source, referring to the independent refiners.

End-April arriving ESPO blend, Russia’s flagship Far East export grade, was last heard offered by a Russian producer at $8 a barrel above July ICE Brent on a delivered basis.

That compared with April-loading Brazil’s Tupi grade last pegged at a premium of $12-15 over dated Brent.

FROM ​DISCOUNT TO PREMIUM

Differentials for ​ESPO, mostly consumed by ⁠China’s independent refiners, flipped into a $2-$3 premium last week for April/May shipments, compared with discounts of $7-$10 for March-loading barrels.

China’s seaborne Russian oil imports surged to an all-time high ​of 1.92 million barrels per day in February, Kpler data showed, as independent ​buyers snapped ⁠up deeply discounted cargoes after top buyer India’s demand fell.

State oil companies had since late October suspended buying Russian oil after Washington imposed sanctions on Moscow’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.

The spikes in spot premiums and outright ⁠Brent prices ​to more than $100 a barrel would, however, sideline independent refiners, said ​three of the sources, as they are cushioned for the near term with cheaper inventories of Russian and Iranian oil bought before ​the war.

Britain and Ukraine are set to sign a defence partnership aimed at addressing the threat of low-cost drones, Downing Street announced ahead of a visit from Ukraine’s leader on Tuesday.

Since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran late last month, Tehran has mainly used ballistic missiles to attack Israel but has relied on drones to strike targets in Gulf states.

The UK-Ukraine agreement will “boost global defensive capability against the proliferation of low-cost, high-tech military hardware, including drones”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said in a statement.

It seeks to leverage Ukraine’s “expertise” in fending off drones from its years-long war with Russia, as well as Britain’s industrial base, “to manufacture and supply drones and innovative capabilities”.

“Drones, electronic warfare and rapid battlefield innovation are now central to national and economic security, and that has only been further magnified by the conflict in the Middle East,” Starmer said in the statement.

“By deepening our defence partnerships, we are strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from Russia’s brutal, ongoing attacks, while ensuring the UK and our allies are better prepared to meet the threats of the future.”

The deal would also provide 500,000 pounds ($670,000) to fund an “AI Centre of Excellence” to be integrated into the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to London on Tuesday comes after he expressed concerns that global attention on the Middle East conflict could overshadow Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Ukraine’s European allies have vowed to keep up their support for Kyiv after Washington partly rolled back sanctions against Moscow to cool oil prices sent soaring by the Middle East war.