Joe Kent, the former Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, has a simple message for President Donald Trump: just walk away from the escalating conflict with Iran.

On Tuesday, Kent weighed in on the latest round of missile strikes between the two countries, sharing a post on X from Brett Erickson of Obsidian Risk Advisors. Erickson called the U.S. decision to reinstate oil sanctions on Iran “incredibly stupid” — justified in principle, but destructive to the fragile Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran.

With that MoU now “effectively dead,” Kent said the U.S. is back to square one: trying to find a military solution to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. “The problem is that we signed the MOU because there was no military solution & we needed the SOH open,” Kent wrote. His proposed fix? “Our best option is to just walk away.”

“If we walk Iran has no justification for targeting ships & we can use sanctions relief as our carrot,” he added, warning that both sides are sliding into a war fueled by “ineffective tit for tat strikes.”

Kent resigned from his counterterrorism role earlier this year, citing opposition to the war with Iran. He said the conflict was being driven by “pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Iran Accuses U.S. of Violating MoU

On the other side of the standoff, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of violating the MoU by reinstating oil sanctions. The accusations come as the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it had struck 80 Iranian targets with missile strikes, retaliating for Iran’s targeting of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes — remains a flashpoint. As tensions flare, global oil prices are climbing, adding to upward pressure from refinery capacity constraints.

For now, Kent’s advice is clear: de-escalate, use sanctions relief as leverage, and avoid a war that neither side seems to want — but keeps stumbling toward.