The FBI was investigating allegations of leaking classified information against an ex-senior US counterterrorism official who quit in protest of the Iran war, US media reported, according to AFP.

The probe predated Joseph Kent’s shock departure as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), reported outlets including the New York Times and CBS, both citing unnamed sources.

In his resignation letter to US President Donald Trump, Kent wrote that “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”.