Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. The director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has resigned to protest the war in Iran.

In peers Greg Myrie reports Kent had been a staunch supporter of President Trump because Trump said he opposed Middle East wars.

Joe Kent addressed his blunt resignation letter to President Trump

in a post on X. He wrote, quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.

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. Ken is a former Green Beret deployed

11 times in the Middle East. His wife was a senior chief petty officer in the Navy. She was killed

in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. When nominated for his position last year, Kent faced

sharp criticism from Democrats, including Senator Patty Murray.

She called Kent, quote, a conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views.

Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington.

Persians are marking their new year with an ancient tradition dubbed the Festival of Fire.

But this year, after a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests and amid U.S. and Israeli air strikes,

Iranians say they're scared to celebrate.

And here's Emily Fang has more.

Chal Shenzhbisori, or the Festival of Fire, is celebratedcrackers, bonfires, and dancing.

This year, some Iranians are managing to get texts out of Iran,

despite in your total government blackout of the country's internet and phone lines.

And they say a powerful paramilitary group, the besiege, is warning people to stay home for the holidays.

One shopkeeper in Tehran sent text to NPR saying he's too

scared to visit a friend for the festival fearing detention at newly set at paramilitary

checkpoints. And a young woman in Tehran wrote to NPR saying she'd bought firecrackers

...