WASHINGTON (TNND) — Joe Kent, the former National Counterterrorism Center director, on Tuesday evening said the only way the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. would stand is if Israel is restrained.
“The last thing we need is the Israelis doing what they have done in past negotiations and tarnish negotiators or taking a series of strikes that escalates the conflict,” Kent said in a video posted to X.
April 7 was the deadline President Donald Trump gave Iran to make a deal before the war escalated.
He announced Tuesday evening that there would be a two-week ceasefire, calling it a “big day for world peace.”
Iran had a 10-point proposal that Trump said could be workable for negotiations.
“The United States will work closely with Iran, which we have determined has gone through what will be a very productive regime change!” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “There will be no enrichment of uranium, and the United States will dig up and remove all of the deeply buried nuclear ‘dust.’”
In his video, Kent said the only way the ceasefire would hold is if Israel was restrained because they have different motives.
“We also have to keep in mind that Israel has a different strategic outcome than we do,” he said. “Us working towards any kind of a deal with the Iranian government works against the Israeli strategic objectives of toppling this government completely and totally.”
Kent praised the ceasefire deal, but said as of now there isn’t a military solution to the conflict at this time.
“In order for us to achieve this goal that we have of bringing about a lasting peace [and] keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, we have to restrain the Israelis,” he said.